Google Earth User Guide

Google Earth Help Page 1 of 163
User Guide
Getting started
Downloading and installing
System Requirements and Recommendations for Google Earth
In order for Google Earth to run on your computer, you must have all minimum
system requirements. Please look below to learn more about the system
requirements for your specific operating system.
PC System Configuration
Minimum:
• Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7

• CPU: Pentium 3, 500Mhz
• System Memory (RAM): 256MB
• Hard Disk: 400MB free space
• Network Speed: 128 Kbits/sec
• Graphics Card: DirectX9 and 3D capable with 64MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1024x768, "16-bit High Color" - DirectX 9 (to run in Direct X mode)
Recommended:
• Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7

• CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz+ or AMD 2400xp+
• Hard Disk: 2GB free space
• Screen: 1280x1024, "32-bit True Color"
Mac System Configuration

Minimum:
• Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5.0 or later

• CPU: Any Intel Mac
• Screen: 1024x768, "Thousands of Colors"
Recommended:

• CPU: Dual Core Intel Mac
• Screen: 1280x1024, "Millions of Colors"
Linux System Configuration

Minimum:
• Kernel: 2.4 or later

• glibc: 2.3.2 w/ NPTL or later
http://earth.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=print.cs&printable_page=1&topic=22357 5/4/2011
• XFree86-4.0 or x.org R6.7 or later

• CPU: Pentium 3, 500Mhz
• Screen: 1024x768, "16-bit High Color" screen
Recommended:
• Kernel 2.6 or later

• glibc 2.3.5 w/ NPTL or later
• x.org R6.7 or later
• Screen: 1280x1024, 32 bit color
LSB must be installed in order for Google Earth to run on Linux. Your
operating system should install this dependency automatically when you
install Google Earth.
Google Earth is officially supported against the most current versions of the Ubuntu
and RHEL Linux distributions. Although we do not officially support Google Earth on
other Linux distributions, many users have successfully run Google Earth on these
platforms.
To use Google Earth on a Windows PC, you must have at least the following:
• Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista

• CPU: 500Mhz, Pentium 3
• System Memory (RAM): 256MB minimum, 512MB recommended
• Graphics Card: 3D-capable with 16MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1024x768, "16-bit High Color" screen
• DirectX 9 (to run in Direct X mode)
• For better performance, see Recommended Configuration.
To use Google Earth on a Mac, you must have at least the following:

• CPU: G4 CPU, 1GHz or faster
• System Memory (RAM): 256MB minimum, 512MB recommended
• Screen: 1024x768, "Thousands of Colors"
• For better performance, see Recommended Configuration
Regarding Linux, Google Earth has been tested on Ubuntu version 6.06, but certainly
works on others. Hardware requirements include:
• CPU: 500Mhz, Pentium 3

• System Memory (RAM): 256MB RAM
• Screen: 1024x768, "16-bit High Color" screen"
Please make sure your system has properly-configured OpenGL drivers. If Google
Earth appears to be slow and unresponsive, it is likely that your system needs
different video drivers.
Installing and uninstalling Google Earth
For instructions on installing or uninstalling Google Earth, please select the

appropriate topic below.
Install Google Earth
If you'd like to install or upgrade to the latest version of Google Earth, you can
download the application at http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html
If you experience issues installing Google Earth through the Google Updater, you
can directly download the latest version of Google Earth here:
• PC: http://dl.google.com/earth/client/current/GoogleEarthWin.exe
• Mac: http://dl.google.com/earth/client/current/GoogleEarthMac.dmg
Should you encounter any difficulties installing, please see errors section of this
article.
Uninstall Google Earth
To uninstall Google Earth, please follow the steps for your operating system:
Windows:
1. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.

2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Scroll down to find Google Earth and click it.
4. Click Remove, then Yes, then Finish.
Mac:
1. Go to your Applications folder and search for the Google Earth application.
2. Right-click the Google Earth application icon and select Move to Trash.
Should you encounter any difficulties, please see the Installation errors section of this
article.
Installation errors
Please review the instructions on how to resolve each error.
Before attempting any of the instructions below, please note the following
initial tips:
• Verify that your operating system is supported.

• If you're using Google Earth Pro, verify that you have administrative
rights on your machine or install through an administrator account on
the local machine.
Error code containing -5009, -5003, -6002, or -6009 during install/uninstall.

This is due to an older version of the installation software on your machine.
• Update to the latest version of InstallShield found at

http://knowledge.acresso.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?
externalId=Q108322&sliceId=1
MSI or .dll error
1. Uninstall your version of Google Earth from the 'Add or Remove Programs'
dialog box in the Control Panel.
2. Upgrade to the latest version from our download link at
http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html
Unable to launch Google Earth or the application crashes
• Follow the instructions at http://earth.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?

answer=20713
This version of Google Earth has a number of exciting new features, including:
• Ocean - Fly and navigate under the ocean and explore underwater terrain.
You can also display the ocean surface.
• Touring - Record, play and share custom tours that capture your actions and
movements in Google Earth. Learn more.
• Historical imagery - Explore images of the recent and not-so-recent past.
Learn more.
• Mars - View imagery and terrain of the red planet. Learn more.
This feature is useful when:
• You have a valid License Key, but you're receiving a 'License Key Expired'
error.
• You free trial expired and you need to log in with a new License Key.
• Your old account expired and you need to log in with a new License Key.
• You're receiving a 'Too Many Machines' error.
• You no longer need to use Google Earth Pro on this computer, and want to
transfer your License Key to a different machine.
• Any general login problem.
If you're experiencing any of the issues listed above, the Deactivate feature will likely
resolve this issue. The Deactivate feature will remove the existing license from your
computer and allow you to access the login screen again to enter valid credentials.
Before deactivating, go to Help > About Google Earth (PC) or Google Earth >
About Google Earth (Mac) to verify which License Key you're currently using. The
About window that appears should clearly mention Google Earth Pro and list your
Username and License Key.
Compare the License Key displayed with your correct License Key. Do they match?
Is this an expired trial License Key? Is this your old License Key, when you thought
you were using a new one? Is this one of your co-worker's License Keys?
You can get more info about your License Key(s) by visiting our Login Assistance
Page. After entering your email address in the requested field, you'll receive an email
detailing your license key(s) and expiration date(s).
If you decide to deactivate:
• (Optional) Download and install the latest version of Google Earth Pro from
http://earth.google.com/download-earth-pro.html.
• Visit the Help menu and select Deactivate Google Earth Pro License >
Deactivate this machine.
• Exit Google Earth Pro completely and re-open the application. This step is
very important, as the program needs to restart after performing the
Deactivate command.
• Enter your correct Username and License Key, and click Log In.
If your subscription has expired and you'd like to renew, please visit our Renewal
Wizard.
If your trial has expired and you'd like to convert it to a one-year subscription, please
visit our Trial Conversion Wizard.
If you're still experiencing problems logging in to Google Earth Pro, please visit our
Login Troubleshooter, or Contact Support for assistance.
Note - This section is relevant to Google Earth EC users.
When you first start Google Earth EC, the 'Select Server' dialog box appears. This
enables you to choose the appropriate server settings. Settings in this dialog box
include:
• 'Server': Choose or enter the address for the appropriate server. For more
information, contact your administrator.
• 'Port': The appropriate port for this server. For more information, contact your
administrator.
• 'Always login to this server': Check this to automatically login in this server
when you start Google Earth. Subsequently, this dialog box does not appear.
To make it appear again when you start Google Earth, click File > Disable
auto-login.
• 'Enable secure login': Check this if your work environment requires a secure
login to this server. For more information, contact your administrator.
To add a database (server) that you can log into in Google Earth EC, click File >
Add Database. To log out of a server in Google Earth Pro or EC, choose File >
Server Log Out. To log in to a server, choose File > Server Login and choose the
settings described above.
Tip - When you add another database (click File > Add Database), Google
Earth logs into new database and maintains a connection to the existing
database. Using this method, you can view data from up to eight databases
simultaneously.
You can change the language displayed in Google Earth. To do this on a Windows:
1. Click Tools > Options. Click the 'General' tab.

2. Under Language settings, choose the appropriate language of your
choice. 'System Default' corresponds to the language used by the operating
system of your computer.
To change your language on a Mac:
1. Exit Google Earth.

2. click the Apple symbol in the upper left-hand side of your screen.
3. Select System Preferences.
4. Click on International.
5. Drag the supported language (see below) of your choice to the top of the list.
6. Re-launch Google Earth.
To change your language on Linux:
1. Exit Google Earth

2. Change the system language system-wide as described by your OS vendor or
change it for only this session by:
◦ Locate the Terminal. In Ubuntu or Fedora it is in Applications >

Accessories > Terminal. In RedHat it is in Hat > System Tools >
Terminal.
◦ Type LANG = "language name" space "application name." For
example, to change Google Earth to Brazilian Portuguese type
"LANG=pt_BR googleearth."
3. Re-launch Google Earth
Google Earth Version 5.0 supports the following languages:

• Arabic
• Bulgarian
• Catalan • Latin
• French • Slovak
• Chinese- American
• German • Slovenian
simplified Spanish
• Greek • Spanish
• Croatian • Latvian
• Hebrew • Swedish
• Czech • Lithuanian
• Hindi • Thai
• Danish • Norwegian
• Hungarian • Turkish
• Dutch • Polish
• Indonesian • Traditional
• English • Portuguese
• Italian Chinese
(American • Romanian
• Japanese • Ukranian
and UK) • Russian
• Korean • Vietnamese
• Farsi • Serbian
• Filipino
• Finnish
In addition to this user guide, Google offers a number of resources that can help you
use and enjoy Google Earth. These include:
• Google Earth: Learn : Follow this hands-on learning game at your own pace
until you complete each level and become a true explorer!
• Tutorials: These provide hands-on lessons using Google Earth.
• FAQs: View a list of answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about
Google Earth.
• Google Earth Help Center: Use the Help Center at any time to find additional
information.
• Google Earth Help Forum: Join Google Earth users as they share questions
and information with one another.
• Google Earth Community: Learn from other Google Earth users by asking
questions and sharing answers on the Google Earth Community forums.
Getting around
The following diagram describes some of the features available in the main window
of Google Earth:
Overview of Google Earth
1. Search panel - Use this to find places and directions and manage search
results. Google Earth EC may display additional tabs here.
2. 3D Viewer - View the globe and its terrain in this window.
3. Toolbar buttons - See 'Using the Navigation Controls'.
4. Navigation controls - Use these to zoom, look and move around (see
below).
5. Layers panel - Use this to display points of interest.
6. Places panel - Use this to locate, save, organize and revisit placemarks.
7. Earth Gallery - Click this to import exciting content from the Earth Gallery
8. Status bar - View coordinate, elevation, imagery date and streaming status
here.
9. Overview map - Use this for an additional perspective of the Earth.
Click the following toolbar buttons to...
Conceal or the display the side bar Display sunlight across the landscape
Add a placemark for a location View the sky, moon and planets
Add a polygon Measure a distance or area size
Add a path (line or lines) Email a view or image.
Add an image overlay on the Earth Print the current view of the Earth
Record a tour Show the current view in Google Maps
Display historical imagery
Tip - Follow a tutorial on navigating in Google Earth or play the video below
(English only).
In Google Earth, you see the Earth and its terrain in the 3D viewer. You can navigate
through this 3D view of the globe in several ways:
Using a mouse
To get started navigating with your mouse, simply position the cursor in the middle of
the 3D viewer (image of the earth), click one of the buttons (right or left), move the
mouse and note what happens in the viewer. Depending upon which mouse button
you press, the cursor changes shape to indicate a change in behavior. By moving the
mouse while pressing one of the buttons, you can:
• Drag the view in any direction
• Zoom in or out
• Tilt the view (requires middle button or scroll wheel)
• Look around from a single vantage point
• Rotate the view (requires middle button or scroll wheel)
The following table describes all the actions you can accomplish using the mouse:

To move the view, position the mouse cursor on the viewer
and press the LEFT/main mouse button. Notice that the cursor
icon changes from an open hand to a closed hand . Pull
the viewer as if the hand cursor is like a hand on an actual
globe, and you want to drag a new part of the earth into view.
Move the view

in any
direction
(north, south,
east, or west)
You can drag in any direction to reveal new parts of the globe,
and you can even drag in circular motions.
Once you are at ground level, you can move around as if you
were walking by using the W, A, S, D or arrow keys.
If you want to drift continuously in any direction, hold the

Drift
left/main mouse button down. Then, briefly move the mouse
continuously
and release the button, as if you are "throwing" the scene.
across the
Click once in the 3D viewer to stop motion.
Earth
There are a number of ways to zoom in with the mouse.
• You can double-click anywhere in the 3D viewer to

zoom in to that point. Single-click to stop, or double-
click to zoom in more.
• If your mouse has a scroll wheel, use it to zoom in by
scrolling towards you. Use the ALT (Option on the Mac)
key in combination with the scroll wheel to zoom in by
smaller increments.
• You can also position the cursor on the screen and
Zoom in press the RIGHT mouse button. Once the cursor
changes to a double arrow, move the mouse backward
or pull toward you, releasing the button when you reach
the desired elevation. Note that crosshairs appear and
that your view zooms toward this.
• If you want to zoom continuously in, hold the button

down and briefly pull the mouse down and release the
button, as if you are "throwing" the scene. Click once in
the viewer to stop the motion. Note that your viewing
angle swoops (tilts) as you approach ground level.
• On some Macintosh laptops, you can drag two fingers

across the trackpad to zoom in and out.
There are a number of ways to zoom out with the mouse.
• Using the RIGHT mouse button, double-click anywhere

in the 3D viewer to zoom out from that point. The viewer
will zoom out by a certain amount. Single-click to stop,
or right double-click to zoom out more.
• If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can use the scroll
wheel to zoom out by scrolling away from you (forward
motion). Use the ALT (Option on the Mac) key in
combination with the scroll wheel to zoom out by
smaller increments.
Zoom out
• You can also position the mouse cursor on the screen
and press the RIGHT mouse button. Once the cursor
changes to a double arrow, move the mouse forward or
push away from you, releasing the button when you
reach the desired elevation. Note that crosshairs
appear and that your view zooms toward this. If you
want to zoom continuously out, hold the right button
down and briefly push the mouse forward and release
the button, as if you are "throwing" the scene. Click
once in the viewer to stop motion.
If your mouse has either a middle button or a depressible scroll

wheel, you can tilt the view by depressing the button and
moving the mouse forward or backward. If your mouse has a
scroll wheel, you can tilt the view by pressing the SHIFT key
and scrolling. You can also press Shift and the left mouse
Tilt the view button and drag. Note that crosshairs appear and that your
view tilts from this point.
See the Tilting and viewing hilly terrain section for more
information.
To look around from a single vantage point, as if you were

Look turning your head, press CTRL and left mouse button and
drag.
If your mouse has either a middle button or a depressible scroll

wheel, you rotate the view by clicking on the middle button and
moving the mouse to the left or right. You can also press Shift
and the left mouse button and drag. Note that crosshairs
appear and that your view rotates around this.
Rotate the
You can also use the CTRL key in combination with the scroll
view
wheel to rotate the view. Press CTRL and scroll UP to rotate
clockwise, CTRL + scroll DOWN to rotate counter-clockwise.
See the Tilting and viewing hilly terrain section for more
information.
Interact with
Learn more about interacting with 3D buildings.
3D buildings
Mouse wheel To change the mouse wheel settings, click Tools > Options >
Navigation (on the Mac: Google Earth > Preferences >
Navigation > Mouse Wheel Settings). Move the slider to set

how fast or slow your viewpoint of the earth zooms in or out.
Check 'Invert Mouse Wheel Zoom Direction' to reverse the
direction of zooming when you use the mouse wheel.
(Windows and Linux) Tools > Options > Navigation >

Navigation Mode > Pan and Zoom. (on the Mac: Google
Earth > Preferences > Navigation > Non-mouse controller
settings). If you use a joystick or other non-mouse controller,
Other
you can also change how perspective moves in the 3D viewer
controllers
under 'Non-mouse controller settings'. Choose 'User-Based' to
move your particular vantage point or 'Earth Based' to move
the globe. Check 'Reverse Controls' to reverse the actions of
the joystick.
Using the navigation controls
To view and use the navigation controls, move the cursor over right corner of the 3D
viewer. After you start Google Earth and move the cursor over this area, the
navigation controls fade from sight when you move the cursor elsewhere. To view
these controls again, simply move the cursor over the right corner of the 3D viewer.
Note - If the navigation controls do not appear when you move the cursor
over the right corner of the 3D viewer, click View > Show Navigation >
Automatically and try again.
To hide or show the compass icon in the 3D viewer, click View > Compass. See
also Showing or Hiding Items in the 3D Viewer.
The Google Earth navigation controls offer the same type of navigation action that
you can achieve with mouse navigation. In addition, you can use the controls to
zoom and swoop (perhaps for a perspective on terrain) or to rotate your view. The
following diagram shows the controls and explains their functions.
1. Click the north-up button to reset the view so that

north is at the top of the screen. Click and drag the
ring to rotate your view.
2. Use the Look joystick to look around from a single
vantage point, as if you were turning your head. Click
an arrow to look in that direction or continue to press
down on the mouse button to change your view. After
clicking an arrow, move the mouse around on the
joystick to change the direction of motion.
3. Use the Move joystick to move your position from one
place to another. Click an arrow to look in that
direction or continue to press down on the mouse
button to change your view. After clicking an arrow,
move the mouse around on the joystick to change the
direction of motion.
4. Use the zoom slider to zoom in or out (+ to zoom in, -
to zoom out) or click the icons at the end of the slider.
As you move closer to the ground, Google Earth
swoops (tilts) to change your viewing angle to be
parallel to the Earth's surface. You can turn off this
automatic tilt (Tools > Options > Navigation >
Navigation controls; Mac: Google Earth > Preferences
> Navigation > Navigation controls).
You can also use the keyboard to control navigation. See 3D

Viewer Navigation in Keyboard Controls for more information.
You can also manipulate your view of the earth by tilting the terrain for perspectives
other than a top-down view. Finally, you can reset the default view for a north-up, top
-down view wherever you are.
Tilting and viewing hilly terrain
When you first start Google Earth, the default view of the earth is a "top-down" view,
which is straight down.
• Tilt the terrain from 0 - 90 degrees - You can use the mouse to tilt the view
in order to see a different perspective of the area you're exploring. You can tilt
to a maximum of 90 degrees, which provides a view of the object as well as
the horizon, in some cases.
• Turn on terrain - Using the tilt feature is particularly interesting when you are
looking at a part of the earth where the terrain is hilly. Make sure the terrain
setting is on.
• Rotate the view for a new perspective - Once you have tilted the view so
that you are looking at a particular object, such as a hill, you can also rotate
around that object. When you do this, the object remains in the center of the
view, but you look at it from different perspectives (i.e., north, south, east,
west) as you rotate around it.
• Use the middle mouse button (if available) for seamless movement - If
your mouse has a middle button or a depressible scroll wheel, you can
depress the button to both tilt and rotate the view. Movements up or down tilt
the view, and movements left or right rotate the view. See Using a Mouse for
more information.
The following figures show a comparison view of Mount Shasta in California with and
without tilt enabled.
Top down view Tilted view

Imagery Date: December 31st, 2004 Imagery Date: December 31st 2004
c. 2010 Google c.2010 Tele Atlas
c.2010 Europa Technologies
You can adjust the appearance of the terrain if you would like the elevation to appear
more pronounced. To do this, click Tools > Options > 3D View from the Tools
menu (for the Mac, choose Google Earth > Preferences > 3D View) and change
the 'Elevation Exaggeration' figure. You can set it to any value from 1 to 3, including
decimal points. A common setting is 1.5, which achieves an obvious yet natural
elevation appearance. See Viewing Preferences for more information.
Navigating the ocean
You can navigate under the surface of the ocean just as you can anywhere else in
Google Earth. This means that you can explore sea floor terrain, such as deep ocean
trenches.
You can hide or display the surface of the ocean. To do this, click View > Water
Surface. You can view this visual effect from above or below this surface. Note that
you can navigate under the ocean surface when it is displayed.
Tip - To view exciting content related to oceans, in the Layers panel, click
Ocean.
Resetting the default view
After tilting and rotating the 3D view in Google Earth, you can always quickly reset to
the default north-up and top-down view. To do this:
• Click the North-up button to reset the view so that north is at the top of the
viewer.
• (Windows and Linux only) Click in the 3D viewer and type r on the keyboard to
reset the view (see Keyboard Controls for more).
Note - To quickly return to a known, familiar spot if you get lost, click the
'Starting location' placemark in the 'My Places' folder. This returns you to the
center of your country (or a country that speaks your language). You can also
edit the location for the 'Starting location' placemark if you want to. See
Editing Places and Folders for more information.
Consider also using the Overview Map Window as a way to provide an additional
perspective on your location, especially when you are zoomed in to unfamiliar
places.
Setting the start location
You can set the starting (default) location that appears each time you launch Google
Earth. To do this, navigate to the appropriate location and perspective and click View
> Make this my start location.
The following keystrokes control the Google Earth application:
Windows/Linux Mac
Command Result
Keystroke(s) Keystroke(s)
Opens the
File menu.
Alt + F (English/Japanese) You can use
Alt + F (French) the down
Alt + F (Italian) and up
File Menu (none)
Alt + D (German) arrows to
Alt + A (Spanish) select items
once the
menu is
open.
Opens the
Edit menu.
Alt + E (English/Japanese) You can use
Alt + M (French) the down
Alt + M (Italian) and up
Edit Menu (none)
Alt + B (German) arrows to
Alt + E (Spanish) select items
once the
menu is
open.
Opens the
View menu.
Alt + V (English/Japanese) You can use
Alt + C (French) the down
Alt + V (Italian) and up
View Menu (none)
Alt + A (German) arrows to
Alt + V (Spanish) select items
once the
menu is
open.
Opens the
Add menu.
Alt + A (English/Japanese)
Use the
Alt + J (French)
down and up
Alt + A (Italian)
Add Menu (none) arrows to
Alt + Z (German)
select items
Alt + D (Spanish)
once this
menu is
open.
Opens the
Tool menu.
Alt + T (English/Japanese)
Use the
Alt + O (French)
down and up
Alt + F (Italian)
Tool Menu (none) arrows to
Alt + T (German)
select items
Alt + H (Spanish)
once this
menu is
open.
Opens the
Help menu.
Alt + H (English/Japanese) You can use
Alt + A (French) the down
Alt + G (Italian) and up
Help Menu (none)
Alt + H (German) arrows to
Alt + Y (Spanish) select items
once the
menu is
open.
Produces the
file open
dialog box,
CTRL + O allowing you
Open File +O
to open all
supported
Google Earth
file types.
Saves the
current view
Save Image CTRL + Alt + S + Option + S as an image
to your
computer.
Displays the
View in Google current view
CTRL + Alt + M + Option + M
Maps in Google
Maps.
Produces the
print dialog
box, allowing
you to print
the current
Print CTRL + P +P view,
placemark,
folder
contents or
search
results.
E-mails the
current view
Email View CTRL + Alt + E + Option + E either as a
placemark or
image file.
Copies the
current
CTRL + C
Copy +C selection in
the 'Places'
listing.
Cuts a
placemark or
other item
from the
listing in the
'Places'
panel. Cuts
an icon from
the 3D
Cut CTRL + X +X viewer. Both
icon or listing
item must
first be
selected.
You can use
this feature
to organize
your places
data.
Pastes a
placemark or
other item
into the
selected
folder in the
Paste CTRL + V +V 'Places'
panel. You
can use this
feature to
organize
your places
data.
Opens a
Find field in
Find CTRL + F +F the Places
panel. Use
this to find
places that
exist in the
Places
panel. Note
that this is
different than
search for
places on
the earth.
Deletes an
item selected
Delete Del Delete in the
'Places'
panel.
Enters edit
mode for a
selected item
in the
'Places'
panel, so
you can
Rename CTRL + Alt + R + Option + R
change the
name
without
bringing up
the 'Edit
Placemark'
dialog box.
Zooms into a
selected
folder,
Zoom to
placemark,
selected Enter Enter
or other item
placemark/item
in the
'Places'
panel.
Toggles
between full
screen and
Full screen
F11 (not supported) window view
mode
for the
Google Earth
application.
Displays or
Show/Hide
CTRL + Alt + B + Option + B closes
sidebar
sidebar
Produces a
latitude and
longitude
grid over the
Lat/Lon grid CTRL + L +L
surface of
the earth in
the 3D
viewer.
Plays the
tour mode
for all
Play Tour CTRL + Alt + P + Option + P selected
items in the
'Places'
panel.
Adds a new
New placemark to
CTRL + Shift + P + Shift + P
placemark the current
view.
Produces the
New folder CTRL + Shift + N + Shift + N New Folder
dialog box.
Produces the
New image New Image
CTRL + Shift + O + Shift + O
overlay Overlay
dialog box.
Produces the
New model CTRL + Shift + M + Shift + M New Model
dialog box
Produces the
New path CTRL + Shift + T + Shift + T New Path
dialog box.
Produces the
New polygon CTRL + Shift + G + Shift + G New Polygon
dialog box.
Switches
navigation in
the 3D
viewer to
Trackball
mode. This
can also be
done by
Change selecting the
navigation Trackball
CTRL + T +T
mode to option from
Trackball Tools >
Options >
Navigation
(Google
Earth >
Preferences
>
Navigation
on the Mac).
When the window focus is on either the 'Places' panel or the 'Layers' panel, use the
following keystrokes to control behavior.
Windows/Linux Mac
Command Result
Toggles the check mark of the

highlighted item on or off,
Select Spacebar Spacebar
showing or hiding display of the
item in the 3D viewer.
Selects the next item in the list
Next Down arrow Down arrow
(either folder or placemark).
Selects the previous item in the
Previous Up arrow Up arrow
list (either folder or placemark).
If the item selected is a folder,
Open
Right arrow Right arrow opens the folder to display
Folder
contents.
If the item selected is a folder,

Close
Left arrow Left arrow closes it to hide contents from
Folder
the list view.
Works only for items in 'Places'
panel. Deletes item after
Delete Delete Key Delete Key
confirmation dialog box is
accepted.
After you click the slider, this
changes the transparency for an
overlay selected in the 'Places'
Change panel when the mouse pointer is
overlay Scroll wheel Scroll wheel positioned on the overlay
opacity opacity slider. Scroll DOWN to
make the overlay image more
opaque, scroll UP to make the
overlay more transparent.
The Overview Map window feature displays an additional view of the earth with a
position indicator that corresponds to the current view inside the 3D viewer. In the
following example, Google Earth is positioned over the city of Paris, France. The
Overview window has a cross-hair marker to indicate the position of the view in relation
to the entire earth.
To show or hide the Overview Map window, do one of the following:
• Click View > Overview Map

• Click CTRL + M (PC Only)
Overview Map Features
You can use the Overview Map window to:
• Determine position of the current view relative to the entire earth
For example, if you open a KMZ file from the Google Earth Community, the 3D
viewer might fly quickly to a detailed view on the earth that you are unfamiliar
with. You can open the 'Overview Map' window to see the position of the current
view relative to the entire earth. As you adjust the position of the 3D viewer, the
indicator in the Overview map continually adjusts to reflect the current position in
the 3D viewer.
• Control the motion in the 3D viewer itself
While the Overview Map window responds to position adjustments in the 3D

viewer, you can also interact directly with the 'Overview Map' window itself.
Double click any area within the window and both the overview display and the
3D viewer adjusts position to the point in the Overview Map window that you
click. For example, if the current view is located in the United States, you can
double click the African continent and both the Overview Map indicator and the
3D viewer will move to the new position.
Adjusting the Overview Map Size and Zoom Ratio
To adjust the Overview map preferences, select Tools > Options > 3D View (Mac:
Google Earth > Preferences > 3D View). Adjust the slider control in the Overview Map
options to scale the Overview map from small to large.
Using the settings in the Options > 3D View tab, you can also adjust the ratio of territory
displayed in the Overview Map window relative to that in the 3D viewer. This ratio has
three basic elements:
• 1:infinity (default setting) - Here, the entire map of the earth is displayed in the
Overview Map window regardless of the amount of territory displayed in the 3D
viewer. This is shown above in the Paris example. 1:1 - The view in the Overview
Map window corresponds exactly to that in the 3D viewer. As shown below, the
Overview Map window now draws the bounds of the current view using a red
bounding box. A small amount of the territory outside the current 3D viewer is
displayed in the Overview window.
• 1:n - Here, 'n' corresponds to any number you set, multiplied by the current view.
This creates a relative "zoom" factor, so that you can choose to zoom out from
the current view by 10, 50, or any other factor. The example below shows the
same close-up view of a Paris building with the zoom factor adjusted up to 260.
This article will discuss the following:
• What is the Internal Browser?

• Accessing the Internal Browser
• Using the Internal Browser
• Closing the Internal Browser
• Deactivating the Internal Browser
What is the Internal Browser?
New to Google Earth 5.2, this internal web browser allows you to access the web from
within Google Earth. When viewing additional content, a browser will open within the 3D
viewer, allowing you to browse the web without leaving Google Earth.
Here are some examples of what you can view inside the internal browser:
• Help Center or User Guide content

• Content related to Sponsored Links that appear in the Search Results
• Content found inside of pop-up balloons including Panoraomio photos, reviews,
and My Maps showing user generated content.
• The Google Earth Gallery Website
Accessing the Internal Browser
First, verify this feature is selected within “General Preferences.” To do this on a Mac, go
to Google Earth > Preferences > General . On a PC, you can access the settings of
this feature by going to Tools > Options and looking in the Display section. Make sure
the box saying “show web results in external browser” is NOT selected. Deselecting this
box will allow content from within Google Earth to open in the internal browser by
default.
You can access the internal browser by clicking on any link from within Google Earth,
this includes all links in placemark snippets, KML balloons, or search results. You can
also access the internal browser by selecting items from the Help Menu. When a link is
clicked, or a Help item is selected, the internal browser opens automatically within the
3D viewer of Google Earth. If you click the “Add Content” button, this will trigger the
Google Earth Gallery website to open within the internal browser.
Using the Internal Browser
Here are a few tips to remember when using the internal browser within Google Earth:
• Once you are inside the browser, you can click on links and move from one web
page to the next. You can use the arrow buttons at the top right of the browser to
move back and forth between web pages.
• Unlike an external browser, you cannot redirect yourself to a specific URL. Only
web pages linked within Google Earth and web pages linked off those pages can
be viewed in the internal browser.
• If at any point you decide you’d rather pop your browser out so you can view the
3D viewer and the browser simultaneously, click the button in the top right hand
corner of the browser that says “Open in Firefox” or “Open in Google Chrome.”
The browser it mentions should be the default browser set on your computer.
Closing the Internal Browser
When you are finished browsing, click the “Back to Google Earth” button in the top left
hand corner of the internal browser. The internal browser will close and you will return to
your 3D viewer.
Note: There is no history kept for the internal browser. Once you exit the browser,
you cannot get it back without re-entering the browser from a point of entrance
within Google Earth.
Deactivating the Internal Browser
If you would like to turn off the internal browser, you can do so by going into Google
Earth > Preferences > General on a Mac, or Tools > Options and looking in the Display
section on a PC. Select the check box that says ““show web results in external browser.”
All web content from within Google Earth will now open in your default external browser.
Want to jump in and start having fun with Google Earth? Try any of the the following:
1.
View an image of your home, school or any place on Earth - Click Fly To.
Enter the location in the input box and click the Search button. In the
search results (Places panel), double click the location. Google Earth flies you to
this location.
2. Tour the world - In the Places panel, open the 'Learn and Explore' folder and
double click Explore.
3. Get driving directions from one place to another and fly (follow) the route -
See Getting Directions and Touring the Route.
4. View recent historical imagery for your favorite locations - In the 3D Viewer
menu, choose the Clock button

to enable Historical Imagery. Then, use the time slider to view interesting
placemarks throughout recent history. See Viewing Historical Imagery for more
information.
5. View 3D terrain of a place - This is more fun with hilly or mountainous terrain,
such as the Grand Canyon. Go to a location (see number 1). When the view
shows the location, use the zoom slider to tilt the terrain. See Using the
Navigational Controls and Tilting and Viewing Hilly Terrain for more information.
View samples of other things you can see and do in Google Earth.
Different viewing options
3D Viewer Navigation
The following keystrokes control navigation in the 3D viewer. For more information about
navigating in the 3D viewer, see Using the Navigation Controls.
Note - The focus must be in the 3D viewer in order for these controls to take
effect. Simply click anywhere in the 3D viewer to change focus.

Windows/Linux Mac
Command Result
Moves the viewer in the

Move left Left arrow Left arrow
direction of the arrow.
Move right Right arrow Right arrow
Move up Up arrow Up arrow
Move down Down arrow Down arrow
Rotates the view clockwise.
Rotate
Shift + left arrow Shift + left arrow The earth spins counter-
clockwise
clockwise.
Rotate counter- Shift + right Rotates the view counter-
Shift + right arrow
clockwise arrow clockwise.
Show/hide
Displays or closes overview
Overview CTRL + M +M
window.
window
Shift + left mouse
Shift + down Tilts the viewer toward
Tilt up button + drag down,
arrow "horizon" view.
Shift + down arrow
Shift + left mouse
Tilts the viewer toward "top-
Tilt down button + drag up, Shift Shift + up arrow
down" view.
+ up arrow
Perspective points in another
CTRL + left mouse + mouse direction, as if you are turning
Look
button + drag button + drag your head up, down, left or
right.
Zooms the viewer in. Tip: to
Scroll wheel, + key, Scroll wheel, + use the 'Page Up' key, make
Zoom in
PgUp key key sure 'Num Lock' on your
keyboard is off.
Scroll wheel, - Zooms the viewer out. Tip: to
Scroll wheel, - key
key (both use the 'Page Down' key, make
Zoom out (both keyboard and
keyboard and sure 'Num Lock' on your
numpad), PgDn key
numpad) keyboard is off.
Zooms the viewer in and

Zoom + Right mouse button + CTRL + click +
automatically tilts your view as
automatic tilt drag up or down drag up or down
you approach ground level.
Stop current When the viewer is in motion,
Spacebar Spacebar
motion stops movement
Reset view to Rotates view so that view is
n n
"north - up" 'n'orth-up.
Reset tilt to
Resets angle to view scene in
"top-down" u u
"top-down" or "'u'p" mode.
view
'R'esets angle to view "top-
Reset tilt and down" and rotates to "north-up"
compass view r r view. Use this feature to orient
to default the earth in the center of the
viewer.
Tip - Use the ALT key in combination with most of these keystrokes to move
more slowly in the indicated direction.
You can set a number of preferences to affect 3D viewer imagery, as well as how icons,
labels, and other elements are displayed. To access these settings, do the following:
• Windows/Linux: Click Tools > Options > 3D View.

• Mac: Click Google Earth > Preferences > 3D View.
Viewing Preferences
Keep in mind that some enhancements affect Google Earth performance; that is, the
more enhancements, the more your computer's resources are required. Settings
include:
• Texture colors - Modify this feature to set the number of bits used to represent
colors in the 3D viewer. True Color (32 bit) produces a more realistic view.
• Anisotropic filtering (smooth horizon) - Anisotropic filtering is a method used to
filter pixels in texture mapping in order to produce a smoother looking image.
Enabling this feature produces a much smoother image around the horizon when
viewing the earth from a tilted angle. It also requires more graphics card memory,
so use this option only if your graphics card has at least 32 MB of memory. By
default, this option is set to Off.
• Labels/icon size - Use this feature to change the default size for labels and
icons in the 3D viewer. A setting of Small is optimal for detailed urban areas
where crowding of labels and icons often occurs, but if you typically look at both
large and urban areas, choose Medium so that placemarks viewed from higher
elevations appear in the 3D viewer. See also Tuning Display of POIs.
• Graphics mode - Most graphic-intensive computer applications (including
Google Earth) rely upon one of two possible 3D rendering capabilities on your
Windows computer: either OpenGL or Direct X. On Linux and the Mac, Google
Earth only supports OpenGL. Because OpenGL is the rendering software for
most graphics cards, Google Earth uses that mode by default. However, your
system might require DirectX (Windows), or your system might run best in safe
mode. When you start Google Earth, you can select the rendering of 3D imagery
best suited to your system hardware. If you are using Windows, Google Earth
tries to determine which setting is most suitable for you graphics card and
automatically suggests that you switch.
(Windows only) There are two ways to choose either OpenGL or DirectX as your
3D graphics rendering software:
◦ Start Menu Selection - Select Set DirectX as the Default Renderer from
Programs - Google Earth under the Start menu of your computer, or
choose Set OpenGL... After selecting the graphics mode, a dialog box
alerts you to the selection, and you can start Google Earth to run in the
chosen graphics mode.
◦ Graphics Mode Selection - Select OpenGL or DirectX from the Graphics
Mode section of the Google Earth Options dialog box.
Select the "Safe Mode" feature when you notice problems with the Google Earth
3D viewer. This option turns off such advanced rendering features as mipmap
texture rendering and filled polygons, thereby reducing the amount of work for
your graphics cards. If the problem is resolved after turning on this feature, the
problem is likely due to your graphics card or graphics card driver. For more
information, see How do I upgrade my graphics card driver?
• Show Lat/Long - As you move the mouse pointer in the 3D viewer, latitude and
longitude coordinates are displayed in the lower left corner of the 3D viewer.
By default, the display of these coordinates is in degrees, minutes, seconds

(DD.MM.SS) or degrees, decimal minutes (DD MM.MMM). This is an example of
DD.MM.SS:
You can choose the Degrees option to display geo-coordinates in degrees

decimal (e.g., 37.421927° -122.085110°).
Additionally, you can display these coordinates using Universal Transverse

Mercator (e.g. 580954.57 m E 4142073.74 m N)
• Show Elevation - Set the elevation measurement units as they appear Google
Earth. As you move the mouse pointer in the 3D viewer, the elevation of the
terrain beneath the pointer is displayed in the lower left corner of the 3D viewer.
By default, the display of elevation is in feet and miles when high enough.
You can choose to display elevation in meters and kilometers.
• Fonts - Adjust the font size and appearance for text as it appears in the 3D
viewer. In most cases, use the primary font setting, as the secondary font setting
is only for rare circumstances when there is a problem with your primary font. Use
the secondary if your label data has characters in it that are not available in the
default font of Arial.
• Terrain quality - Turn terrain on or off by selecting or deselecting the 'Show
terrain' box. Use the slider to set the terrain quality to be lower (less detailed)
quality with better performance or to be higher (more detailed) quality with slower
performance. To adjust the appearance of hills when you have terrain turned on
in the 3D viewer, you can set the Elevation Exaggeration value from 0.n to 3.0,
including decimal values. The default setting for this value is 1. Typically, settings
higher than 1.5 create an overly exaggerated appearance for most terrain. See
also Tilting and Viewing Hilly Terrain.
• Overview Map - See Adjusting the Overview Map Size and Zoom Ratio.
See also Showing or Hiding Items in the 3D Viewer.
Google Earth provides a special layer accessible from the View menu that displays a
grid of latitude and longitude lines over the imagery in the 3D viewer. To turn on the grid
do one of the following:
• Select View > Lat/Lon Grid.

• Type CTRL + L ( + L on the Mac)
The grid appears over the earth imagery as white lines, with each
latitude/longitude degree line labeled in an axis across the center of the 3D
viewer. You can position a geographical feature in the 3D viewer and determine
its basic geo-spatial coordinates using this grid.
As you zoom in, the level of detail of the degree lines increases. For example,
from an eye elevation of about 100 miles, Las Vegas, Nevada, appears north of
the 36th parallel, and just west of the 115th meridian.
Imagery Date: June 22, 2009

c. 2010 DigitalGlobe
As you zoom to an eye altitude of just above 2000 feet, you can see that the
marker for Las Vegas, Nevada, sits at W115 08'11" and N36 10'29".
The grid lines continue increasing in granularity even after you have zoomed past
the base resolution of the earth imagery.
Switching to Full Screen Mode
Note - Currently, this feature is not supported for Mac versions of Google Earth.
You can use the Google Earth application in either window or full-screen mode. To enter
full-screen mode, or to return to window mode from full-screen mode:
• Select View - Full Screen from the menu

• Press the F11 key
Switch to full-screen mode for the most dramatic display of earth imagery, such as when
touring places or making presentations.
Image c.2010 TerraMetrics

c. 2010 Cnes/Spot Image
Setting the View Size
Use the 'View Size' options in under the 'View' menu to select a number of pre-set
aspect ratios designed for best playback modes or printing modes. The selected option
resizes the 3D Viewer for the best display for your intended purpose. For example, if you
have set your computer's display to an overhead projector, you can choose the best
aspect ratio supported for that projector. For best video-quality output, choose the
appropriate TV view setting.
For playback, you can choose 'Computer' or 'TV'. For print, you can choose from 4
aspect ratios for different paper sizes (see Printing Images for more information).
Settings for each mode include.
View Mode Modes

Computer Playback 320 X 240
640 X 480
800 x 600
TV Playback NTSC (720 x 486)
PAL (720 x 576)
Print Output View Settings 8.5" x 11", Landscape
11" x 17", Landscape
4" x 6", Landscape
5" x 7", Landscape
Note: Once you choose an aspect ratio, you can always manually resize the 3D
viewer.
Viewing Historical Imagery
Note: This feature is available only in Google Earth 5 and later
Las Vegas 1950 vs. 2010
By default, Google Earth displays best available imagery. You can view historical
imagery so that you can see how places have changed over time.
To learn more about how to view historical imagery, watch the video(English only) or
read the instructions below.
Watch the video
Read the instructions
To access historical imagery, do one of the following:
• Click View > Historical Imagery

• Click the Clock icon in the toolbar above the 3D viewer.
• Click on the year that appears in the bottom left of the Status bar(Version 6.0).
The small vertical lines on the timeline indicate the dates of different imagery available
for your location. Notice that the slider is automatically positioned at the far right of the
timeline, showing that you are viewing more recent satellite imagery. Move back or
forward in time by doing the following:
• Click the Forward or Back buttons above the slider.

• Drag the slider along the timeline. Note that regardless of where you release your
mouse on the timeline, the slider automatically moves to the closest date for
which imagery is available.
This article will cover all basics of the time slider:
1. When to Use the Time Slider

2. Features of the Time Slider
3. Setting Timeline Options
Note: The time slider feature is available only in Google Earth 5 and later
When to use the Time Slider
If you have downloaded data that contains time information (for example, GPS
tracks), you can view this information sequentially in Google Earth using the time
slider. For example, you can view GPS tracks that occur within a specific time period
and visually follow these tracks. Learn more about using the time slider to view your
GPS Tracks.
Features of the Time Slider
Features of the time slider include:
1. Click this to play an animation of a sequence. Animations work best when you
move the range marker to define a time range smaller than the whole set.
Click the adjacent buttons to step forward or back.
2. Drag this range marker to the right or left to re-define the time range of data
displayed.
3. Click this to set options for the time slider.
4. Zoom in or out to shorten or lengthen the date range covered by your timeline.
This lets you to more easily see the different imagery that's available within a
shorter or longer period. Notice that as you zoom in or out, the Start and End
dates on the timeline change.
5. Drag this to move the time range earlier or later.
Note: The time slider isn't available when you record movies.
Setting Timeline Options
You can set options for the timeline display feature. Here's how:
1. In the time slider, click the settings icon (see above). The Date and Time
options dialog box appears. Options include:
◦ Start and End date/time - Set the date and time for the start and end
of the timeline.
◦ Display time in - Choose the appropriate type of displayed time.
◦ Animation speed - Use this slider to set the speed of the animation
that occurs when you click the play button on the time slider (see
above).
■ Loop animation - Select this checkbox to play your animation
continuously.
2. When you're finished, click OK.
By increasing your memory and disk cache size, you can improve performance. To do
this, follow the steps below:
1. Click Tools > Options (Google Earth > Preferences on the Mac). Click the
'Cache' tab.
2. Enter a value in the 'Memory Cache Size' field. You do not need to know the
actual limits of your computer's memory because Google Earth automatically
limits the size according to the physical memory available on your PC.
3. Enter a value less than 2000 in the 'Disk Cache Size' field.
Increasing the size of memory or disk cache can improve performance but can
adversely impact the performance of other applications. Available memory is dependent
on the specifics of your computer. Increasing memory cache significantly improves
performance for printing and movie-making with Google Earth Pro and Google Earth EC.
Disk cache is limited to 2GB. Google Earth uses this cache when you are viewing
imagery offline. This enables you to view the earth without an Internet connection.
You can recover some disk space by deleting the disk cache. To do this:
1. Click File > Server Logout.

2. Select Tools > Options (Google Earth > Preferences on the Mac). Click on the
'Cache' tab.
3. Click Delete Cache Files.
To display the current view in Google Maps in your web browser, do one of the following:
• Click in the toolbar

• Click CTRL + Alt + M ( + Option + M on the Mac)
All altitude and elevation measurements displayed in Google Earth are relative to Mean Sea
Level (MSL).
You can change altitude settings in the Altitude tab of the 'Edit Placemark/Folder' dialog box
(Edit > Properties). Altitude values can be set on a single item, across all items in a folder
using shared styles, or using a mixture of altitude settings for items in a folder. Unlike other
shared elements, modifying one item in a folder does not disable the shared style feature
for other elements such as color and scale. If your folder contains items with different
altitude settings, the parent folder indicates 'Mixed Modes' as the altitude settings.
Finally, you can use the values set in the 'Altitude' area to extrude geometry.
Altitude Settings
There are three options for altitude:
• Clamped to ground - By default, all folders and placemarks are set to this option.
Here, because the altitude for the placemark is locked to the ground, no height value
is allowed for altitude. This ensures that the placemark remains fixed to the earth,
regardless of whether terrain is on or off.
• Relative to ground - When this option is selected, altitude of the placemark is
relative to the actual ground elevation of the view. For example, if you set 9 meters
as the altitude of a placemark in Venice, Italy, the elevation of the placemark will be
9 meters above the ground because Venice is at sea level. However, if you set the
same placemark above Denver, Colorado, the elevation of the placemark will be
1616 meters, because the elevation of Denver is 1607 meters. You can see this how
this appears in the 3D viewer by setting elevation, tilting the view, and turning terrain
on and off.
Placemark over the Google campus with Same placemark, terrain on

relative altitude set to nine meters, terrain
off
You can adjust the altitude using the slider or by entering a value in meters in the
'Altitude' field.
• Absolute - When this option is selected, altitude of the Placemark is above sea
level. In the example above, if you have terrain on and keep altitude to 9 meters but
set the altitude type to 'Absolute', the icon would disappear from view because it is
actually below the level of the terrain at Denver, Colorado. You can adjust the
altitude using the slider or by entering a value in meters in the 'Altitude' field.
Drawing Lines With Skirting
Once you set an altitude value for a folder or a placemark, you can check 'Extend to
ground'. This draws a single line appears from the earth's surface to the placemark. When a
line or a path is drawn with skirting, a geometric shape is drawn from the earth's surface to
the path.
Google Earth displays the approximate date of displayed imagery in the status bar at the
bottom in the 3D viewer. As you mouse over a location, this information depicts the date of
the imagery. Note that this date is only approximate.
You can display the sun and sunlight across the landscape, To do this:
1. Click View > Sun or the Sun button . Google Earth displays the current level of daylight
at the location you are viewing. Note that the time slider appears.
2. To change the time of day, drag the time slider right or left. Depending on your location and
time of year, you can view the sunrise or sunset while looking east or west.
3. To display an animation of sunlight across the landscape, click the time slider play button.
4. To hide the sun, click View > Sun or the Sun button .
Tip - This feature often produces dramatic effects when you are viewing hilly or mountainous
terrain.
Use the 'Print...' command under the 'File' menu to print the current view. You can also type CTRL (
on the Mac) + P. When you print an image, a 'Print' dialog box appears that asks you to choose
one of the following:
• Graphic of 3D Viewer - Choose an appropriate resolution. You can then select available
printers, just as you would for any document. The image is printed with all visible placemarks,
borders, or other layer information visible in the 3D viewer.
• Most recent Search Results - Choose this if you want to print search results or driving
directions
• Selected Folders/Placemarks in My Places - This is available if you have selected any
placemark or folder in the Places folder. This prints the current 3D view plus placemark
information and images.
Note - Some of these printing options are only available to Google Earth Pro and EC users.
Street View
In certain locations, you can view and navigate street-level imagery in almost the same way that you can in
Google Maps.
Watch the video (English only) below or read the instructions to learn how.
Watch the video
Street View in Google Earth 6.0
To view street-level imagery for a specific location, zoom into an area at an altitude of approximately 500km.
You will see a pegman icon appear at the top right below the navigation controls. Click and drag the icon
across the 3D viewer. A blue border will appear around roads that have street-level imagery available.
Drop the on a road with the blue border and you will enter Street View. While in Street View, all applicable
layers that are selected in the left panel under Layers are also visible. Learn more about layers.
You can navigate and rotate your view while in Street View mode by doing any of the following:
• Double click an area of the image with your mouse.

• Drag the imagery to the right or left with your mouse. In some locations, you can drag the imagery down
to look skyward.
• Use the keyboard arrows.
• Use the scroll wheel of your mouse.
To exit Street View, select the Exit Street View button located at the top right.
If Street View is not available in a particular location, you will automatically enter the ground-level view.
Street View in Google Earth 5.2 and earlier
In certain areas, you can view and navigate street-level imagery in much the same way you can in Google
Maps. To do this:
1. In the Layers panel, check 'Street View'. If this feature is available in the current view, photo icons
appear at locations with available views.
2. Zoom in until you can see individual streets. Note that if you are close enough, the photo icons appear
as spheres.
3. Click a photo icon. A balloon appears.
4. Click Show full screen. The 3D viewer displays imagery of this location.
5. To move around, double click photo icons that appear on the street. You can also look around, zoom
and exit at any time (learn more).
Street View on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Ground-level view
Ground-level view provides an intuitive view of the world from the ground. There are two ways to enter this
view:
1. Zoom in as much as possible on a particular location in Google Earth.
2. Zoom into an area at an altitude of approximately 500km or until you see you a pegman icon appear
below the navigation controls on the right. Click and drag the icon to the area of interest, and select
the building icon that appears in the top right of the 3D viewer.
Make sure the terrain and 3D Buildings layers are on for an enriched experience. Applicable layers that are

selected in the left panel under Layers are also visible. Learn more about layers.
To control your view, you can do any of the following:

• Drag the imagery to the right or left with your mouse. In some locations, you can drag the imagery down
to look skyward.
The widget at the top right allows you to easily toggle between Street View and ground-level view:
To exit this mode, select the Exit ground-level view button.
Navigating Sky
In Sky, some Google Earth features are available, while others are disabled. Among other features,
the following are available:
• A view of the sky

• Sky layers
• Grid
The following features are not available:
• Google Earth options

• Atmosphere
• All layers except those which pertain to Sky
• Tilting and the tilt slider
• Mouse and controller actions that involve titling (example: pressing the mouse scroll wheel)
• Certain controllers, such as the 3d Connexion devices
• Ability to hide or display the Overview map
• Scale legend
• Options dialog box (to access these settings, return to a view of the Earth)
• Make this my start location
• Start up tips
Note - You can navigate in Sky exactly as you do in the Earth view, except that you cannot tilt
the view.
About Position
Position is depicted in the lower left corner of the 3D viewer. The coordinates are based on the
motion of the sky due to the rotation of the Earth. These coordinates appear in the following units:
• RA (Right Ascension) is similar to longitude. It is measured in Hours/Minutes/Seconds

(0h00m00.00s) up to 24 hours. Right ascension is tied to the rotation of the Earth - in one
hour, this much of the sky rotates past your perspective on Earth.
• Declination corresponds to latitude and is measured in much the same way as RA. It uses -
90 degrees to +90 degrees. Declination directly relates to the latitude of your position on the
Earth (in other words, the declination for the point right above your head (the zenith) is always
equal to your latitude).
As time passes, the RA for the zenith rotates through 24 hours, but the declination remains constant.
You can search for heavenly objects. To do this, in the Search panel, click one of the following tabs:
• Search the Sky - Use this to search heavenly objects by name (examples: Orion, NCG
2437). Currently, you cannot search for planets.
• Location search - Use this to search by right ascension or declination. Example:
5:34:32.01, 32:00:45.96
After you enter your search terms, click the Search button . Results appear in the Search
panel. Double click any result to navigate to that location.
You can display a grid of latitude and longitude lines over the imagery in the 3D viewer. To turn on
the grid do one of the following:
• Select View > Lat/Lon Grid.

• Type CTRL + L ( + L on the Mac)
The grid appears over the earth imagery as red lines, with each latitude/longitude degree line labeled
in an axis across the center of the 3D viewer. You can position a astronomical feature in the 3D
viewer and determine its basic spatial coordinates using this grid. As you zoom in, the level of detail
of the degree lines increases.
To view imagery and terrain of Mars and Moon, click and choose Mars/Moon. You can
navigate and explore just as you would on Earth. To return to a view of Earth, click and choose
Earth.
Check out the video below to see examples of features available on the Moon.(English only)
In addition to browsing the Earth, Google Earth allows you to view heavenly objects, including stars,
constellations, galaxies, planets such as Mars and the Earth's moon. To view these objects, click
View > Switch to Sky or click . and choose Sky. In Sky, the Earth is hidden and the 3D viewer
presents a view of the sky.
Note - When you use Sky, the view is above your current location on Earth. For example, if
you go to Paris and open Sky, you will see what is in the sky above Paris at the current time.
When you exit Sky, you return to this same location.
Once you switch to Sky, you can navigate and see stars. Additionally, you can view other heavenly
bodies by checking items in the Layers panel. Currently, these layers folders include:
• Welcome to Sky • Featured Observatories

• Current Sky Events • Education Center
• Our Solar System • Historical Sky Maps
• Backyard Astronomy • Sky Community
As with other layer folders, you can expand these folders and display or hide layers by checking or
unchecking them. You can click points of interest to fly to and learn more about an object. For
example, after checking the 'Backyard Astronomy' layer, you can click a point of interest icon to learn
about a particular star.
Note - Items checked in the Places panel (placemarks, polygons, etc.) appear as you view
the sky. If you want to hide these items, just uncheck them in the Places panel.
Finding places and getting directions
Searching for a place

This section covers the basic search results features not covered in Finding Places and
Directions.
• Matching search results are displayed in the 3D viewer with an icon to mark the
search. The alphabetical icons next to each result corresponds to its matching
item in the search list view for easy cross reference. By default, only the most
recent search is turned on in the 3D viewer, but you can turn on the icon for any
search result by selecting its check box in the search list view. You can turn on
the display for entire search results by selecting that search folder's check box.
• You can also delete the entire contents of a search result by right-clicking on the
folder and selecting Delete Contents from the pop-up menu.
• You can perform the same operations on search results and their folders that you
would for any item in your 'Places' panel, including organizing, touring, deleting,
and editing.
Tip - Follow a tutorial on this subject: Searching for Locations and Businesses or
watch the following video(English only).
You can search for specific locations using the 'Fly To' tab in Google Earth. To do this,
enter the location in the input box and click the Search button.
Search button
Each tab of the Search panel displays an example of a search term (see above). Google
Earth recognizes the following types of search terms, which you can enter with or
without commas.
Format Example
City, State Buffalo, NY
City Country London England
Number Street City State 1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington DC
Zipcode or Postal Code 90210
37.7, -122.2
Latitude, Longitude in decimal format
Note that such coodinates must appear

in this order (latitude, longitude).
37 25'19.07"N, 122 05'06.24"W or
37 25 19.07 N, 122 05 06.24 W
Latitude, Longitude in DMS format Note that format 37d25'19.07"N,

122d05'06.24"W does not work with
Google Earth. Such coodinates must
appear in this order (latitude, longitude).
Note: Currently, street-level searching is limited to certain countries. Learn more

here.
Your most recent search terms are saved by Google Earth and appear as you enter
matching text in the search field. To clear these search terms, click Edit > Clear Search
History.
See Managing Search Results for more information.
About Search Terms
Certain search terms are not currently recognized as locations in the 'Fly To' tab. These
include:
• Minor city names in many countries

• State or province names alone
• Search terms that are not a recognizable location search are treated as a
business listing search over the current view. For more information on how
listing searches work, see Searching for Listings.
Tip: If you want to find a particular street in a city, you can enter the name of the
street alone, and the search engine will display the top 10 matches for that street
entry. For example, if you want to find Sunset Boulevard' in Hollywood, CA', you
can enter the phrase 'Sunset Blvd Hollywood CA' in the search field and the
beginning of Sunset Boulevard will be displayed in the 3D viewer, along with the
top 10 results for streets that contain the string 'Sunset' in their name.
Watch a video on this topic.
You can search for directory listings using the 'Find Businesses' tab in Google Earth. To
do this, enter your search term in the 'What' input box and click the Search button. The
top 10 matching results are displayed in the current view. To target your search over a
specific city, enter the name and state of the city in the 'Where' input box. This returns
the first 10 results from the center of that city outwards, searching web page information
in that region.
You can also search for user-created content.
Search Methods
You can use a number of search methods, including:
• Exact names (for example 'Cost Plus World Market') - If you know the exact
name of the listing you want, try entering that name within quotation marks to limit
the number of results to those that match the entire string. This is the most
specific type of entry, so if you receive unexpected results, you might be
matching a web page entry for that exact term. Try removing the quotation marks
for broader results or using one of the other methods described here. Partial
name (i.e., Disneyland) - If you know part of the name (one word or more) in the
listing you are searching for, you can use that. This type of search typically
returns a greater number of matches than an exact name search. For example, if
you search for 'Disneyland' in Anaheim, CA, you will see results for 'Disneyland
Hotel' and other similar listings. If you have more than one word in your partial
search, enter them with quotations to return only results that contain both of
those terms in the order you have entered them (i.e., 'Greenwood Publishing')
• Keyword (i.e., colleges, salon) - A keyword search returns business listings
whose type matches the keyword search, even if the keyword itself is not in the
title of the business. For example, the keyword 'salon' can return results for
'Supercuts' or 'Hair By Jodi' and other businesses that are classified as a salon.
When you use the 'Find Businesses ' feature, you are using Google Maps search to
search a combination of Yellow Page listings along with web page information for that
region. For example, you might search 'Shell Oil' and see a result for an investment
company with holdings in Shell Oil Co. and whose web site also references the term
'Shell Oil'.
Your search terms for both 'What' and 'Where' are saved in the entry history (indicated
by the small black triangle on the right of the search input). When you log out of Google
Earth, the last 10 search entries are saved for the next session. This location search
history is independent of the location search history for the 'Fly To' search panel.
A Find Businesses search starts in a radius either from the center of the current view, or
from the center of the location indicated in the 'Where' input box. So, if you want to
search for a movie theater close to a restaurant where you are having dinner, try
entering the address of the restaurant in the 'Where' input box when searching the term
'movie theater'.
See Finding Addresses and Locations for example location searches and Managing
Search Results for details on results.
After you perform a search, a listing results panel also appears below the Search button.
Each search term you enter is the title for the folder containing the top 10 results within
it. You can collapse a particular search folder by clicking on the minus icon next to the
search term. While you are logged in, you can revisit your search results just by double-
clicking on an item in the search list. You can clear search results from the listing by
clicking on the Clear button (X).
Once you log out of Google Earth, your search terms are cleared. However, you can
save search results for future Google Earth sessions in the following ways:
• Drag and drop a search result item from the search results panel to any folder
within the Places panel. Release the item to place it in the new location.
• Right-click a search result in either the listing or the 3D viewer and select Save to
My Places from the pop-up menu.
• Use the copy feature by right-clicking (CTRL clicking on the Mac) on a result
listing in either the viewer or the Search panel and selecting Copy from the pop-
up menu. From there, right-click a folder in the Places panels where you want to
save the search result and select Paste from the pop-up menu to paste the
search result in your new location.
Tip: You can also save the contents of the entire search result to the 'Places'
panel by selecting the folder containing your search results and dragging it to the
desired location.
Once a search result is saved, you can change its title, location, and description. See
Editing Placemark or Folder for information.
Once you begin searching for places and listings and have learned how to save them,
you can learn about:
• Search Results Basics

• Clearing Search Results
• Printing Search Results

• Viewing Many Results
To clear search results, click the Clear button at the bottom of the search results
listing. This removes all search results from both the listing and the 3D view except for
those that have been saved to the 'My Places' folder.
You can print all results from your search by clicking on the Printable view link in the
search results window. When you do this, the Google Maps web window appears at the
bottom of the screen, and you can click the Print button on that web page to print your
search results.
Viewing Many Results
Oftentimes a search over a category in a metropolitan area returns many results all
crowded in a small region. Sometimes, a label appears next to one icon, but not another,
or a group of icons has no label, or one icon overlaps another one. Follow the guidelines
for tuning the display on Points of Interest in order to resolve common issues with
numerous search results.
Getting directions and sightseeing
You can get and print directions to and from any placemark in the 3D viewer, or any place
listed in the search results or available in the 'Places' panel.
Getting Directions
Directions are available for a place or listing in the following ways:
• Right-click an icon or listing result - In the pop-up menu, select either 'Directions
from here ' or 'Directions to here'. When you do this, the 'Search' panel automatically
transfers the information to the 'Directions' tab. The route and turn-by-turn directions
appear in the search listings window.
Search button
• To Here/From Here - To do this, click any search result listing or placemark to view
the information balloon in the 3D viewer. Click To Here or From Here. Location
information appears in the appropriate field ('From' or 'To') in the Directions tab.
Repeat this action for either the starting location or the final destination and click the
Search button. The route and turn-by-turn directions appear in the Search panel.
• Enter start and ending points in the Directions tab. You can manually enter valid
location searches in each input box. After clicking the Search button, the route and
turn-by-turn directions appear in the search listing window below the search input.
The direction route is mapped in the the 3D view with a line indicating the route. See
Getting and Printing Directions and Saving Directions for more information on how you can
use the results of your directions search.
Note - Direction are not always available for locations that are far from roads.
Printing Directions
1. Make sure that the driving directions you created are selected in the Directions tab.
2. Click File > Print. The Print dialog box appears.
3. Choose 'Driving Directions' and click Print. Another Print dialog box appears.
4. Choose the appropriate printing options and click Print. Google Earth prints driving
directions that include images of intersections that require turns.
You can remove the directions from the 3D viewer by clearing the check box next to your
directions summary, or by clearing the search results entirely. See Managing Search
Results for more details.
Once you have a route displayed in the 3D viewer, you can use the tour feature to "fly" the
route in the 3D viewer, and you can save the directions to your 'My Places' folder for later
reference.
Touring the Route
Select the 'Route' item at the end of the directions listing. Click the Play Tour button:
The 3D viewer automatically starts the tour from the departure point, oriented in the correct
direction as if you were flying over the route you have marked. The tour follows the route,
stops at the end, and zooms out to encompass the entire route in the 3D viewer. See Using
Tours for more information.
Imagery Date: May 31, 2007

c. 2010 TerraMetrics
Note - You can also display driving directions in an animated time sequence. To
learn more, see Viewing a Timeline.
Saving Directions
When you get driving directions between two points, those directions are listed beneath the
Search button in a folder that is expanded to show all the turning points along the route.
You can save those directions to your 'My Places' folder as follows:
1. Scroll up on the results listing until you see the top folder that contains your
directions. The folder is labeled with the 'To' and 'From' search words you entered.
2. Collapse the folder by clicking on the minus icon. This helps provide a less
cluttered appearance in your 'My Places' listing, but is not necessary.
3. Right-click the folder and select Save to My Places from the pop-up menu. The
folder is moved from the search listing window to your 'My Places' folder. Because its
appearance is collapsed before you save it, it also appears collapsed in your 'My
Places' folder. If you wish, you can save only individual route points to your 'My
Places' folder instead of the entire route.
Once you save the directions to your 'My Places' folder, you can edit the folder and its
placemarks in the same way you would any place data. See Editing Places and Folders for
more information.
The 'Layers' panel holds an extensive list of points of interest (POIs) that you can turn on to
display in the 3D viewer wherever you are. This listing includes:
• Businesses, such as banks, restaurants and gas stations

• Restaurants of a variety of styles
• Parks and recreation areas
• Airports, hospitals, and schools
• Postal, city, and school boundaries
Turn on a POI by checking it in the 'Layers' panel. Turn off a POI by clearing the check box.
Occasionally, POIs overlap each other. In these cases, click a POI to expand these icons
into a star formation. This allows you to click an individual icon.
Note - To view all available POIs or layers, at the top of the Layers panel, beside
'View', be sure to choose 'All Layers'.
You can interact with points of interest in the following ways:
• Find Directions to or from the POIs - See Getting and Printing Directions
• Search the web for information on the POI - Click on the icon, and in the info balloon,
click the link that says 'Google Search'. The web window appears below the 3D
viewer or in a new browser window with the Google search results for that POI.
• Save the POI to your 'My Places' folder
• Right-click the POI icon and select Save to My Places from the pop-up menu. See
Using Places for more information.
Tip: You can deselect a parent POI category and thereby hide data for that
category, including sub-categories. This is faster than turning off multiple sub-
categories one-by-one.
For more information on points of interest and layers, see Using Layers.
If you are using Google Earth for the first time, this feature is a great introduction. A
'Sightseeing' folder inside the 'My Places' folder contains a number of points of interest
already marked on the earth for you to explore. To view them, expand the folder and double
-click one of the entries. The 3D viewer flies to that location.
Tip - If you are upgrading to Google Earth from a previous version, you can access
the 'Sightseeing' folder by opening the 'default_myplaces.kml' file located in the
Google Earth installation folder, as follows:
1. Click File > Open. A dialog box appears. Use the dialog box to navigate to the folder
where Google Earth is installed. If you installed Google Earth using the default
method, look in Program Files > Google > Google Earth for the application.
2. Select the default_myplaces.kml file and click Open. A second 'My Places' folder
appears in the 'Temporary Places' folder.
3. Expand this second 'My Places' folder to view the 'Sightseeing' folder within. If you
wish, you can drag the sightseeing items to your original 'My Places' folder if you
want them to appear the next time you start Google Earth. Or, simply right-click any
place you want to save and select Save to My Places from the pop-up menu.
You can also tour places in the 'Sightseeing' folder as you would any placemark. See Using
Tours.
Using layers
About different layers
Viewing 3D Trees
Trees in San Francisco, CA
Google Earth can display trees in 3D in various areas just like the picture above.
To view 3D trees watch the video(English only) or read the steps below.
Watch the video
Read the steps
1. Expand the 3D Buildings layer in the left-hand Layers panel by clicking on the +
sign.
2. Check the box next to Trees.
3. Position the viewer within a reasonable viewing altitude. Some trees start to
appear from an eye-elevation of approximately 2,000 feet or 600 meters. For a
full experience, tilt your view by pressing the Shift key and scrolling up with your
mouse, or use the ground-level view.
Location of 3D trees
3D trees exist only in certain locations in Google Earth. We have trees modeled for
several areas around the world, including San Francisco and Kenya. We plan to
continue to add more 3D trees to Google Earth over time.
Google has also worked to generate larger groups of trees and forests in non-urban
areas. Here are a few forests that are available in Google Earth:
• Replanting sites near the Aberdare National Park in Kenya

• Forest located in the Surui Indigenous territory in the state of Rondônia (north-
western part of Brazil).
Accuracy of 3D trees
The goal of the 3D trees layer is to represent what trees look like in a specific area.
Google has developed its own software to geo-locate and identify existing trees, from
the tree species and appearance to its size and location. However, in certain areas with
a wide variety of tree types, the biodiversity of tree species may not be 100% accurate.
Additionally, species of trees are more likely to be accurate in urban areas than large
forests, which have a large variety of tree species.
Use Cases for 3D trees

There are a variety of use cases for the 3D trees layer. Here a just a few:
• Ecology / Environmentalists - Gather information on approximate density and

type of trees in specific areas. Try comparing the 3D trees to the historical aerial
imagery from earlier time periods to learn how long trees have been in a
particular location.
• Park Goers - Visiting a national park? Find a perfect place for a picnic by
checking how much shade there is when you browse tree density, population,
and placement.
Share a use case that you’ve dreamed up with us!
The Layers panel in Google Earth allows you choose what kind of information you'd like
to see displayed over the place you're viewing in your 3D viewer.
• Selecting and deselecting a checkbox next to particular layer turns it on or off.

For example, turning on the Roads layer will display lines that show clearly the
roads in the area you're viewing, and their names. Turn it off, and this information
becomes invisible.
• Layers with small plus signs next to them are hiding more layers inside. Click on
the plus sign next to Places of Interest, and you'll see that there's tons of content
inside that you can choose whether to display, or not.
Layers are created by Google or our content partners. Google publishes the layers,
which you see in the Layers panel to side of the 3D viewer. Most layers are included
in all versions of Google Earth. The only exception is our Pro-only layers, which are
available with the purchase of Google Earth Pro and can be found in the Earth Pro (US)
folder of the Layers panel.
Pro-only layers include the following:
• US Demographics
• US Parcel Data
• US Daily Traffic Counts
Places content can be created by anyone using Google Earth or KML. It appears in the
Places panel, which is also located to the side of the 3D viewer above the Layers panel.
KML files that are opened or created can be viewed in the Places panel.
The Borders and Labels layer displays information for the viewing area and includes
international and country borders, country names, coastlines and names of major places
around the world. The Borders and Labels layer group is expandable and includes two
sublayers:
Borders
Labels
Borders
You can expand the Border sublayer to control the display of the various types of
borders:
• International Borders - Displayed in three colors according to political status of

the border:
◦ Solid yellow - An "international" boundary refers to a well-defined line

whose position is considered legal and final in position and status by both
adjoining states and for which no dispute of any kind exists.
◦ Solid red - A "disputed" boundary refers to the questioned legal status of a

boundary in which one or both adjoining states contest portion(s) of or an
entire boundary and/or adjacent territory. The status of disputes can vary
in intensity from uncontested, dormant, jointly-managed, hostile, bellicose
to actual war.
◦ Solid orange - This color is used for two types of boundaries: treaty and
provisional.
■ Treaty Boundary: refers to well-defined boundary which has been
established by a specific treaty, agreement, armistice or other such
agreement between two or more states, yet the position and/or
status is not considered to be legal and final (e.g., the final
demarcation of the exact position has not occurred or the final
political status is not officially resolved).
■ Provisional Boundary: one for which a formal agreement has not
been established between two or more states, yet the existing line
acts as ade factofunctional boundary without dispute.
• Country/Region Names - Displays the names of countries/regions around the

world.
• Coastlines - Indicates all boundaries dividing land from main bodies of water with
a thin, yellow line.
• 1st Level Admin Borders (States/Province) - Indicates state and province

boundaries, where applicable, with a light purple line and can be viewed clearly
when zoomed in.
• 1st Level Admin Names (States/Province) - Provides the names of states and
provinces of areas around the world. If names are not visible, try zooming in to
the area.
• 2nd Level Admin Regions (Counties) - Indicates county boundaries, where

applicable, with a pale green line and can be viewed clearly when zoomed in.
Labels
You can expand the Labels sublayer to control the display of the following:
• Populated Places - Denotes populous places around the world, such as cities,
towns, etc.
• Alternative Place Names - Presents localized label names for various places.
• Islands - Designates island names with a clickable circular icon. Try zooming into
the area if the icon is not visible.
• Water Bodies - Displays the name of major bodies of water including oceans,
bays, gulfs and seas as well as underwater features.
Tip - In select places where there is a dispute over a name or territory, we have
included Political Annotations in a balloon. To see this political annotation, zoom
in on the name until a clickable icon appears and click on the icon. In the cases
of disputed islands, simply click on the island icon.
Using Places of Interest (POIs)
This section has tips on using places of interest that aren't covered in Showing and
Hiding Places of Interest:
• What's Included in Places of Interest (POIs)?

• Locating POIs in your viewing area
• Saving or copying POIs to My Places Tuning Displays of POIs
• Tuning Displays of POIs
What's Included in Places of Interest (POIs)?
The Places of Interest layer includes the following place categories in one non-
expandable layer:
• Places
• Businesses
• Transit Stations
• Mountains
• Parks and Golf
When you expand the "More" layer, you'll see a sublayer called "Place Categories"
which lets you turn on certain place categories individually.
Locating POIs in Your Viewing Area
Follow these steps to find a particular place of interest in your viewing region.
1. Adjust the 3D viewer to surround the area you'd like to investigate. If you want to
find all places within a certain area, use one of these methods to adjust the
viewer to surround the entire region:
◦ Zoom out
◦ Expand the size of the viewer by using the maximize window control or by
dragging the edge of the window outwards with your mouse
2. Click the "Places of Interest" box to make the places appear in the 3D viewer. If
you don't see the POI you're looking for, zoom in a little more, and it should
appear.
Each type of place is identified by a unique icon that makes it easy to tell what the type
of place is without flying to the place itself. The key below shows what each Place of
Interest icon represents:
Bank
Bar
Car dealership
Car rental
Car repair
Coffee shop or bakery
Daycare
Dining
Electronics, computers, etc.
Fast food
Gas station
Gift shop
Hair care
Internet service provider or rental

establishment
Jewelry store
Legal
Lodging
Motorcycle
Music
Pet-related business
Photo studio or equipment
Shopping
Supermarket
Swimming
Tea
Telecommunications
Travel agent
Parking
Taxi stand
Truck or SUV dealer
Baseball
Fishing
Campground
Golf course
Mountain
Park
Rest area
Soccer or sports complex
Tennis court or shop
Winter sports
Cemetery
Fire station
Mosque
Synagogue
Temple or place of worship
Dentist
Doctor
Hospital
Pharmacy
Veterinarian
Amusement park
Aquarium
Bowling
Casino
Fitness
Movies or rentals
Music hall or events venue
Zoo
Academy or educational institute
Airport
Civic building
Courthouse
Embassy or government
Historical place
Industry
Library
Monument
Museum
Police
Post office
Residential complex
School
Stadium
Tourist destination
University
Note: Not all icons appear in every country around the globe.
Saving or Copying POIs to My Places
When you want to save a POI for future Google Earth sessions, right-click on a PC or
Ctrl+click on a Mac and select Save to My Places from the pop-up menu.
Alternately, right-click and select Copy from the pop-up, mouse over a target folder in
the "Places" panel, then right-click and select Paste from the pop-up.
Tuning the Display of POIs
Because Google Earth can deliver hundreds of POIs to a single view, the icons marking
them can be modified to make viewing them easier. The most common issues with POI
display include:
• A POI doesn't appear over an area where one is expected

• No icons appear at all
• Icons overlap each other, making it hard to see them both
Try the following to resolve the issue:
• Zoom in closer to the region to see if the icon appears. Remember that icons,
like road data, appear at different elevations, and not all icons appear from an
extended elevation. In addition, zooming in to a lower elevation often resolves the
problem of icons that appear to overlap when viewed from a higher elevation.
• Check the streaming meter to make sure downloading is complete. The

streaming meter is located at the bottom of the 3D viewer. If you think you're
sufficiently zoomed in, but no POI appears, data might still be streaming to your
client. Because the Google Earth servers stream imagery, terrain, and other data
to your application, sometimes icons don't appear immediately.
• Adjust the icon size. You can change the size of icons from medium to small or
large, depending on whether you usually view the Earth from a higher elevation
or a lower elevation. To do so, select Options from the "Tools" menu. The icon
size is set in the "Labels/Icon size" area. See Viewing Preferences for more
details.
The Panoramio layer allows you to see places of the world through community-
generated photographs. Panoramio photos in Google Earth are strictly photographs of
places and are tagged for the approximate geographical location in which the photo was
taken. Once a month, photos are selected to be included in this Google Earth layer.
When this layer is on, square icons will appear, as depicted in the image below. Simply
click on the icon and enjoy photos of cities, natural wonders, incredible views, and much
more! Learn more about Panoramio.
Image Copyright 2010 TerraMetrics
The road layer displays road map information for the viewing area, including major
highways, county roads, and streets. This option is available in the 'Layers' folder. This
layer includes U.S., Canadian, and many international roads.
While road information for a given view is always available, it only displays in the viewer
when a logical distance is reached. For example, if you are looking at a very large
region, such as the southern area of a state, you see only major highways. When you
zoom in to a more confined region, you see labels for those highways, as well as smaller
highways and roads. The figure below shows only the major highways for the states in
view.
Tip: If you cannot see the label for a highway or a road, zoom in or reposition the
viewer until the label appears. Typically, you need to zoom in to see the label.
The Weather layer displays current weather conditions and is expandable to view the
following:
• Clouds - Allows you to view the Earth’s current cloud pattern. If you cannot see
the cloud coverage, try zooming out.
• Radar - Displays radar images of rain, snow and ice conditions per the following
key:
• Conditions and Forecasts - Shows the current temperature in Farenheit and

Celsius along with a weather icon in the 3D viewer. Select this icon and a pop-up
balloon will appear with a detailed forecast.
• Information - Provides detail regarding the Weather layer including the current
cloud and current radar image times.
Weather information is provided by weather.com and Weather Services International.
Viewing Rain and Snow
For some areas of North America and Europe, Google Earth can project images of rain
and snow over the areas with those weather patterns, as it’s actually happening. You
can determine if your area of interest is covered by activating the radar layer.
Image Provided from the Google LatLong Blog (Hurricane Alex 2010)
Once you've determined your area of interest has precipitation coverage, you can view
the precipitation by following these steps:
1. Enable the Cloud Layer within Google Earth.
2. Zoom in close to an area that you're interested in(or if you'd just like to try the feature,
try cities like Seattle or London).
The terrain option shows 3D elevation of your current view. Elevation is limited to natural
geographic features, like mountains and canyons, and does not apply to buildings. Turn
this feature on to get an even clearer image of your favorite ski resort or canyon trail.
You can turn terrain on by selecting:
Windows/Linux: Tools > Options > 3D View. Under the Terrain Quality section, select
the 'Show terrain' box.
Mac: Google Earth > Preferences > 3D View. Under the Terrain Quality section, select
the 'Show terrain' box.
You can also adjust the appearance of the terrain if you would like the elevation to
appear more pronounced in your views by modifying the 'Elevation Exaggeration value'.
The default value is set to 1, but you can set it to any value from 1 to 3, including
decimal points. A common setting is 1.5, which achieves an obvious yet natural
elevation appearance.
Tip: Because terrain data is additional information, more time is needed to

download this information to Google Earth. If you are not interested in viewing
terrain data, turn this option off for faster streaming from the server to the viewer.
Street View
In certain locations, you can view and navigate street-level imagery in almost the same
way that you can in Google Maps.
Watch the video (English only) below or read the instructions to learn how.
Watch the video
Street View in Google Earth 6.0
To view street-level imagery for a specific location, zoom into an area at an altitude of
approximately 500km. You will see a pegman icon appear at the top right below the
navigation controls. Click and drag the icon across the 3D viewer. A blue border will
appear around roads that have street-level imagery available.
Drop the on a road with the blue border and you will enter Street View. While in Street
View, all applicable layers that are selected in the left panel under Layers are also
visible. Learn more about layers.
You can navigate and rotate your view while in Street View mode by doing any of the
following:

• Drag the imagery to the right or left with your mouse. In some locations, you can
drag the imagery down to look skyward.
To exit Street View, select the Exit Street View button located at the top right.
If Street View is not available in a particular location, you will automatically enter the
ground-level view.
Street View in Google Earth 5.2 and earlier
In certain areas, you can view and navigate street-level imagery in much the same way
you can in Google Maps. To do this:
1. In the Layers panel, check 'Street View'. If this feature is available in the current
view, photo icons appear at locations with available views.

2. Zoom in until you can see individual streets. Note that if you are close enough,
the photo icons appear as spheres.
3. Click a photo icon. A balloon appears.
4. Click Show full screen. The 3D viewer displays imagery of this location.
5. To move around, double click photo icons that appear on the street. You can also
look around, zoom and exit at any time (learn more).
Street View on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Ground-level view
Ground-level view provides an intuitive view of the world from the ground. There are two
ways to enter this view:
1. Zoom in as much as possible on a particular location in Google Earth.

2. Zoom into an area at an altitude of approximately 500km or until you see you a
pegman icon appear below the navigation controls on the right. Click and drag
the icon to the area of interest, and select the building icon that appears in the
top right of the 3D viewer.
Make sure the terrain and 3D Buildings layers are on for an enriched experience.

Applicable layers that are selected in the left panel under Layers are also visible. Learn
more about layers.
To control your view, you can do any of the following:

• Drag the imagery to the right or left with your mouse. In some locations, you can
drag the imagery down to look skyward.
The widget at the top right allows you to easily toggle between Street View and ground-
level view:
To exit this mode, select the Exit ground-level view button.
Using photos
You can fly into and navigate photos, such as high resolution images that appear in the
Gigapxl layer. To do this, do one of the following:
• In the Places panel, double click any item with a photo icon
• In the Layer panel, check 'Gallery' > 'Gigapxl'. In the 3D viewer, double click a
Gigapxl icon or in the placemark balloon, click Show full screen. The 3D viewer
displays the photo.
Gigapxl icon
Note - Gigapxl photos are not available for all locations. If you do not see Gigapxl
icons in the 3D viewer, try navigating to another area and zoom in.
Use the following controls to zoom or move in the photo. Note that these controls only
appear when you mouse over the top right corner of the 3D viewer.
1. Click the arrows to move around in the photo. These arrows only work when you
have zoomed in (see below). You can use your mouse or arrow keys to move
around.
2. Click and drag this thumbnail to move around in the photo. Double click to zoom
in. Right double click to zoom out. The white box shows you what part of the
photo is currently displayed.
3. Click this to exit the photo and return to a standard view of the area.
4. Use the zoom slider to zoom in and out. You can also double click the photo to
zoom in or right double click the image to zoom out.
You can add photos to Google Earth. Your photos are not viewable by other users of
Google Earth unless you choose to share them (learn more).
Note - This feature is distinct from adding image overlays. When you add a
photo, it is located in 3D and does not appear as a ground level image overlay.
To add photos:
1. Click Add > Photos... The New dialog box appears.

2. Enter the following information:
• 'Name' - Descriptive label of the image

• 'Link' - Enter the URL (website address) or location of the photo you want to add.
To choose a photo on your computer, click Browse...
• 'Transparency' - Choose the opacity of the image as it appears in the 3D viewer
• 'Description' tab - (optional) Enter any comment or text about the image
• 'View' tab - Use these settings to manually place the photo in an exact location.
For explanation of terms in this tab, mouse over each field. You can also click
and drag the image to the location you want. Note: You can't click and drag a
photo overlay
• 'Photo' tab - These settings include:
◦ 'Camera placement' - This is the location of the default viewpoint as you
view the photo
◦ 'Heading' - The orientation of the photo relative to north
◦ 'Tilt' - The inclination of the photo relative to the surface of the Earth
◦ 'Roll' - Use this to rotate the absolute orientation of the photo
◦ 'Field of view' - These settings control how much of the 3D viewer the
photo occupies relative to the Earth. Check 'Lock Aspect Ratio' to maintain
the original dimensions of the photo
3. Click OK when you are finished. You can view the photo as described above.
You can return to the photo anytime by double clicking it in the Places panel.
Note - Using Panoramio, you can also share your photos with other Google Earth
users. Learn more.
3D Buildings
Google Earth can display both simple and photo-realistic 3D buildings in many areas. To
view these:
1. Turn on the 3D buildings by checking the 3D Buildings folder in the Layers panel.
2. Position the viewer within a reasonable viewing altitude over a major city such as
San Francisco. Some 3D buildings start to appear from an eye-elevation of
10,000 to 12,000 feet. Check the eye-elevation meter on the lower right of the 3D
viewer to determine your current viewing height. The 3D buildings appear as light
gray objects over the imagery of the city.
Imagery Date: May 31st 2007

Gray Buildings c. 2009 cyber city
Gray Buildings c. 2008 Sanborn
c. 2010 Europa Technologies
• As you zoom in, more details appear. Use the navigation controls to get the best view of the
buildings.
• Mouse over certain buildings and they appear purple. Click these buildings to view additional
information from the 3D Warehouse.
• To hide a building, right-click it and choose Hide building. Note that Google Earth does not
display this building again until you restart the application.
Imagery Date: May 31st 2007

Gray Building @ 2008 Sanborn
c. 2010 Google
c. 2010 TerraMetrics
Once you display 3D buildings, you can also do the following:
• Swoop to the top or side of 3D buildings - To do this, right-click the builidng and drag the
mouse. You can swoop from building to building by doing the same. Note that this feature
does not work with imported SketchUp models.
• View a 3D building from different perspectives - To do this, click the middle mouse button
(Shift + mouse button if your mouse does not have a middle button).
Tip - Some Google SketchUp models do not appear correctly in Google Earth until you turn
off the 3D buildings layer. For more information, see Viewing 3D Buildings.
You can easily view Google SketchUp 3D models in Google Earth. To do this:
1. Visit http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/
2. Search for a model that interests you and click it.
3. Click Download to Google Earth. Note that this option may not be available for all models.
4. As you zoom in, more details will appear until you can see the entire shape of the model.
5. Use the tilt and rotate navigation tools to get the best view of the model.
You can also place and create 3D models in Google Earth. For additional information, see Using
Google SketchUp with Google Earth.
A Google SketchUp model of AT&T Park in San Francisco
Tip - You can also view available 3D models using the 3D Model network link.

To place a Google SketchUp 3D model in Google Earth:
1. Click Add > Model or press CTRL + Shift + M. ( + Shift + M on the Mac). The New Model
dialog box appears. Adding a model is very similar to adding a placemark.
2. Altitude settings for 3D models are identical to placemark altitude settings. For more information,
see Setting Altitude.
For additional information:
• Viewing Google SketchUp 3D Models

• Using Google SketchUp with Google Earth
Viewing 3D Trees
Trees in San Francisco, CA
Google Earth can display trees in 3D in various areas just like the picture above.
To view 3D trees watch the video(English only) or read the steps below.
Watch the video
Read the steps
1. Expand the 3D Buildings layer in the left-hand Layers panel by clicking on the + sign.
2. Check the box next to Trees.
3. Position the viewer within a reasonable viewing altitude. Some trees start to appear from an eye-elevation
of approximately 2,000 feet or 600 meters. For a full experience, tilt your view by pressing the Shift key and
scrolling up with your mouse, or use the ground-level view.
Location of 3D trees
3D trees exist only in certain locations in Google Earth. We have trees modeled for several areas around the
world, including San Francisco and Kenya. We plan to continue to add more 3D trees to Google Earth over time.
Google has also worked to generate larger groups of trees and forests in non-urban areas. Here are a few forests
that are available in Google Earth:
• Replanting sites near the Aberdare National Park in Kenya

• Forest located in the Surui Indigenous territory in the state of Rondônia (north-western part of Brazil).
Accuracy of 3D trees
The goal of the 3D trees layer is to represent what trees look like in a specific area. Google has developed its own
software to geo-locate and identify existing trees, from the tree species and appearance to its size and location.
However, in certain areas with a wide variety of tree types, the biodiversity of tree species may not be 100%
accurate. Additionally, species of trees are more likely to be accurate in urban areas than large forests, which
have a large variety of tree species.
Use Cases for 3D trees

There are a variety of use cases for the 3D trees layer. Here a just a few:
• Ecology / Environmentalists - Gather information on approximate density and type of trees in specific
areas. Try comparing the 3D trees to the historical aerial imagery from earlier time periods to learn how
long trees have been in a particular location.
• Park Goers - Visiting a national park? Find a perfect place for a picnic by checking how much shade there
is when you browse tree density, population, and placement.
Share a use case that you’ve dreamed up with us!
Pro Layers
Earth Pro layers are a set of layers only available with the purchase of Google Earth Pro. You can
find them in the Earth Pro (US) folder in the Layers panel next to the 3D Viewer. Earth Pro (US)
layers include:
• Demographics: Provided by Nielsen Claritas, shows U.S. Census Tract Data, including
income, age, education, household size, marital status, and more for 2010 and a 2015
projection.
• Parcel Boundaries: Provided by DataQuick, shows critical parcel and building information for
commercial and residential real estate in the U.S.
• Traffic Count: Provided by Market Planning Solutions Inc., shows the concentration of
vehicle traffic for different areas of the U.S.
Watch a video about Pro layers:
To view a layer, open the Earth Pro (US) folder in the Layers panel. Some layer content doesn't
appear until you zoom into an area of interest. To hide a layer or layer folder, uncheck it.
Note: These layers are available only in English.
This feature is available to Google Earth Pro and Google Earth EC customers only.
The US Demographics layer provides United States Census Tract data . To access this layer, click
the plus sign (+) next to the Earth Pro (US) folder in the Layers panel to the left of the 3D viewer.
This expands the folder. To view the data in the 3D viewer, click in the box next to US
Demographics, zoom in to your area of interest, and click an icon.
Blue icons of two people standing together indicate median values within each census block, tract,
county, or state. As you zoom in, more granular data is available. Click an icon to see a pie chart of
the data. The data includes Last Year (2009) and Four-Year Projected (2014) data for the
following:
• Age
• Education
• Gender
• Households
• Income
• Marital Status
• Vehicle Availability
Here's what the ballon looks like once you click on the icon:
You can view a thematic map of 2010 Median Age data by clicking the 2010 Median Age link at the
bottom of the balloon. This will open a KML file in the 3D viewer.
This data has been provided by Nielsen Claritas, which sells marketing research, demographic data,
marketing software, and market segmentation services to businesses. This data is available with a
Google Earth EC license.
Note: This layer is available only in English.
The US Parcel Data layer provides critical parcel and building information for commercial and
residential real estate within the United States. To access this layer, click the plus sign (+) next to the
Earth Pro (US) folder in the Layers panel to the left of the 3D viewer. This expands the folder. To
view the data in the 3D viewer, click in the box next to US Parcel Data, zoom in to your area of
interest, and click an icon.
Parcel points show details about a particular piece of real estate, while parcel lines show the
perimeter of each parcel of land. Parcel point data includes the parcel number, country use and
zoning codes, legal description, property value, property square footage, number of beds, and
number of baths for residential areas.
Parcel Point data is displayed as blue houses, shopping carts, etc., depending on the type of
property. The larger icons show information for multiple parcels associated with the same location.
Here is a list of the types of icons you'll see:
• Industrial -
• Agricultural -
• Vacant Land -
• Commercial -
• Residential (multi) -
• Residential (single) -
• Mixed use -
• Miscellaneous -
Here's what the ballon looks like once you click on an icon:
Note: Parcel Points and Lines are not comprehensive (some areas in the United States may be
missing) and some areas include more detail than others.
This data has been provided by DataQuick, which provides real property and land data to
businesses. This data is available with a Google Earth Pro or Google Earth EC license.
The US Daily Traffic Counts layer shows the concentration of automobile traffic for different areas
within the United States. To access this layer, click the plus sign (+) next to the Earth Pro (US) folder
in the Layers panel to the side of the 3D viewer. This expands the folder. To view the data in the 3D
viewer, click in the box next to US Daily Traffic Counts, zoom in to your area of interest, and click
an icon. As you zoom in, the most recent data appears first, and the older data appears as you get
closer to your point of interest.
Traffic data is displayed as blue cars placed at the points where traffic data was collected. The data
includes average daily traffic, the nearest cross street of the count, the direction from the count to the
cross street, and the distance to the nearest cross street.
Note: Traffic count data is not all from the same year. Some points may have multiple samples from
different years, all of which are displayed within the pop-up balloon when you click the car icon.
This data has been provided by Market Planning Solutions Inc., which provides site and market
planning solutions for businesses.This data is available with a Google Earth Pro or Google Earth EC
license.
Flight simulator
Using Flight Simulator
You can fly around the globe in Google Earth using the flight simulator feature. This
allows you to operate a simulated aircraft using either your mouse or another controller.
Entering Flight Simulator
To enter the flight simulator, do one of the following:
• Click Tools > Enter Flight Simulator

• Press CTRL + Alt + A ( + Option + A on the Mac)
The Flight Simulator dialog box appears. You need to chose the following:
• Aircraft - Choose the airplane you would like to fly based on the descriptions
shown. The SR22 is a slower plane and easier for beginners.
• Start Position - Choose where you would like to begin.
• Joystick support - Check Joystick enabled if there is a joystick device on your
computer that you would like to use.
To change these settings, exit the flight simulator and press CTRL + Alt + A ( + Option
+ A on the Mac)
Viewing Flight Simulator Help
To view this page at any time, press CTRL + H. (Windows and Linux only).
Exiting Flight Simulator
To exit the flight simulator, do one of the following:
• Click Exit Flight Simulator

• Press CTRL + Alt + A or Escape ( + Option + A or Escape on the Mac).
Once you have entered the flight simulator, a head-up display (HUD) appears:
1. Speed (knots)
2. Heading
3. Bank angle
4. Vertical speed (feet per minute)
5. Exit flight simulator feature
6. Throttle
7. Rudder
8. Aileron
9. Elevator
10. Flap and gear indicators
11. Pitch angle (degrees)
12. Altitude (feet above sea level)
To hide or display the HUD, press H.
You can use either a joystick or mouse with the flight simulator feature. To use a mouse,
click the mouse in the center of the screen so the cursor becomes a + (cross). To pause
or resume the flight simulator at any time, press the space bar.
To take off, first press the Page Up key to increase thrust and move the aircraft down
the runway. Once your plane is moving, move the mouse or joystick back slightly down.
With enough speed, you take off. To change direction or bank the aircraft, make small
motions with the mouse or joystick. Be careful not to over-correct. Once the wings are
level, center the mouse or joystick. To look around, press the arrow keys + Alt (slow) or
CTRL (fast).
To adjust thrust, aileron, elevator, rudder, elevator trim nose or flap, see the keyboard
shortcuts below.
Landing Your Aircraft
Landing is a bit trickier and takes some practice. To land the aircraft:
1. Approach the appropriate airstrip or flat area.

2. Press Page Down to reduce thrust and slow down the aircraft.
3. Press G to extend the landing gear.
4. Press F to increase the flap setting. This slows the aircraft.
5. Once you have touched down, using wheel brakes to slow the aircraft. Press ,
(comma) to apply the left wheel brake; press . (period) to apply the right wheel
brake.
This section describes the various keyboard combinations that you can use with the
flight simulator. To enter the flight simulator mode, press CTRL + Alt + A ( + Option +
A on the Mac). Once you have entered flight simulator mode for the first time, you can re
-enter the mode by choosing Tools > Enter Flight Simulator. To leave flight simulator
mode, click Exit Flight Simulator in the top right corner or press CTRL + Alt + A ( +
Option + A on the Mac).
The following keystrokes control navigation and other aspects of the flight simulator. You
can also control the aircraft with a mouse or joystick. To disable or enable mouse
controls, left click. Once mouse controls are active, the pointer shape changes to a cross
on your screen.
Note - Until you enter flight simulator mode, the following commands do not
work.
Windows/Linux Mac
Command Result or Comment
Exit flight CTRL + Alt + A, + Option + A, Exits flight simulator

simulator Escape Escape mode.
Open flight Opens the flight
CTRL + Alt + A + Option + A
simulator options simulator dialog box.
Arrow keys + Alt Moves the viewpoint in
Rotate pilot Arrow keys + Alt
(slow) or CTRL the direction of the
viewpoint (slow) or CTRL (fast)
(fast) arrow.
Opens this flight
Display flight
CTRL + H - simulator keyboard
simulator help
commands page.
Increase thrust Page Up Page Up -
Reduce thrust Page Down Page Down -
Aileron left Left arrow Left arrow -
Aileron right Right arrow Right arrow -
Elevator push Up arrow Up arrow -
Elevator pull Down arrow Down arrow down -
Rudder left Insert Shift + left arrow -
Enter (numeric Enter (numeric
Rudder right -
keypad) keypad)
Rudder left Shift + left arrow Shift + left arrow -
Rudder right Shift + right arrow Shift + right arrow -
Elevator trim
Home Home -
nose down
Elevator trim
End End -
nose up
Elevator trim
Shift + up arrow Shift + up arrow -
nose down
Elevator trim
Shift + down arrow Shift + down arrow-
nose up
Reduce flap
Left bracket Left bracket -
setting
Increase flap
Right bracket Right bracket -
setting
Reduce flap
Shift + F Shift + F -
setting
Increase flap
F F -
setting
Center aileron
5 5 -
and rudder
Center aileron
C C -
and rudder
Only works if landing
Extend/retract
G G gear is retractable on
landing gear
current aircraft
Left wheel brake , (comma) , (comma) -
Right wheel brake. (period) . (period) -
Pause simulation Space Space -
Toggle HUD H H -
Drawing and measuring
Drawing
You can draw free-form paths and polygons in the 3D viewer and save them in your My
Places folder just as you would a placemark. Paths and polygons share all the features
of placemark data, including name, description, style view, and location. Once you
create a path, you can select and play a tour of it. For more information on modifying
paths and polygons once you create them, see Editing Places and Folders.
Follow the steps below or watch the video(English only) below to learn more about how
to draw a path or polygon in the 3D viewer.
Watch the video
Read the steps
1. Name and Style your Path or Polygon - Position the 3D viewer to best contain
the region you want to mark. The more detailed your view, the more closely your
drawing can follow the land feature. From the Tool Bar at the top, click Add
Path (CTRL + Shift + T) or Add Polygon(CTRL + Shift + G). The New
Path or New Polygon dialog box appears and the cursor changes to a square
drawing tool. Enter the properties for your drawing just as you would for any other
type of places data. See Editing Places and Folders for details. Hint: Change the
style color (Style, Color tab) for the line or polygon from the default white to better
visualize the shape you're about to try.
2. Draw your Path or Polygon - Click in the 3D viewer to start your drawing, and
use the following methods to create your desired shape:
◦ Free-Form shape - Click once and drag. The cursor changes to an up-
arrow to indicate that you're using free-form mode. As you drag the cursor
around the 3D viewer, the outline of the shape follows the path of your
cursor. If you're drawing a path, a line appears as a result. If you're
drawing a polygon, a shape evolves from the path of your cursor, always
connecting the beginning and ending points.
◦ Regular shape - Click and release. Move the mouse to a new point and
click to add additional points. In this mode, the cursor remains a square
drawing tool, and the path or polygon that you draw is exactly the same as
the path and polygon creation described in Measuring Distances and
Areas.
◦ You can save the paths and polygons you draw with the Measurement
tool. Just select the Measurement tab within the Path or Polygon dialog
box, and click in the 3D viewer to start drawing. The measurements
appear in the dialog box as you draw. Note: You can also view
measurements for shapes you draw using the Drawing tool.
To learn more about measuring, check out Measuring Distances and Areas.
You can use a combination of these drawing modes to combine curved edges
with straight edges. To transition from a free-form mode to a regular mode, just
release the mouse button, position the pointer to a new place, and click. A
straight edge is drawn between the last point and the most recent one. Reverse
the process to enter free-form drawing mode again.
Hint: To navigate in the 3D viewer while creating a new path or polygon, use the
keyboard controls or the navigation panel.
3. If you're creating a polygon or path, you can make the shape a 3D object. To do
this:
• Click the Altitude tab.
• Choose the appropriate option in the drop down menu
■ Relative to ground
■ Relative to sea floor
■ Absolute
c. Use the distance slider to adjust the altitude of the polygon or path.
• Check Extend sides to ground. The polygon is now a 3D object. Learn
more about placing other 3D objects.
4. Click OK to save your new path or polygon.
Explore the elevations of a particular path through the Elevation Profile. To start, either
draw a path or open an existing one. Once you've chosen a path from the Places panel,
there are two ways to see its Elevation profile. Either go to Edit > Show Elevation
Profile, or right-click on your path from the Places panel and select Show Elevation
Profile. An Elevation Profile will appear in the the lower half of the 3D Viewer as shown
below:
The Y-axis of the chart displays the elevation, and the X-axis of the chart displays the
distance. When you move the cursor through the various parts of the Elevation Profile,
the arrow moves along your path and displays the elevation (left side of arrow) and
cumulative distance (above the arrow). The % number displayed represents the % grade
or slope.
If you'd like to select a specific portion of the path, hold the left-click button on your
mouse while you move the cursor over the desired area, then release the button. This
metrics above the line chart will then be displayed for this specific part of the path, and
the graph will automatically highlight this section.
To change the metrics' scale between feet and meters, select Tools > Options and
select your preference under the category Show Elevation.
Measuring
The following table describes the options available to all measuring tools, as well as the
features specific to each tool.
Feature or Function Description
Once you define a line, path, or other shape in the 3D

viewer, you can change its dimensions by clicking on a
desired point and dragging it to the new position. First
make sure you have the type of shape you want to modify
selected in the Ruler dialog box.
When you place the cursor over an existing point, the

cursor changes from a drawing box to a finger-pointing
Modify or reposition a hand to indicate that you can click the highlighted point if
shape you want to reposition it.
For circles, you can click the radius point and drag the
circle to a new position on the earth.
For area shapes, you can add additional points by clicking

in the 3D viewer. Points are added in an area shape in a
strict sequence from first to last, regardless of where you
click in the 3D viewer.
Remove selected If you want to remove a shape from the viewer, right-click
shape the shape in the Places panel and click Delete.
Remove selected If you want to remove a point from either a path or an area
point shape, select a point and press the Backspace key.
You can clear all measuring shapes from the viewer by

Remove all shapes clicking on the Clear All button in the 'Ruler' dialog box
regardless of which tab is active.
By default, navigation with the mouse is disabled when

you use measuring mode, but you can enable it by
Reposition the viewer checking 'Mouse Navigation'. When enabled, mouse
navigation works in conjunction with measuring: click and
hold to add a new point; click and drag to move the earth.
All Google Earth versions support measuring with a line. A

Line line consists of two points connected by a straight line, and
measurement is done along its length.
All Google Earth versions support measuring with a path.

A path in the measuring mode consists of two or more
points connected with a straight line. Measurement is done
Path
along the entire length of the path. To follow a natural
boundary or road more closely, try zooming in closely to
the feature and adding more points.
Google Earth Pro supports measuring with the polygon

tool. A polygon consists of three or more points.
Polygon
Measurement for a polygon tool is done for both perimeter
and area.
Google Earth Pro supports measuring with the circle tool.

Circle Measurement for a circle is done for its radius, area, and
circumference (in the appropriate measurement unit).
Google Earth offers a number of tools that you can use to measure distances and estimate
sizes. Depending upon which version of Google Earth you're using, you might have access
to the following measuring tools:
1. Measuring length on the ground with a line or path (all versions of Google Earth)
2. Measuring circumference and area with a polygon or circle (Google Earth Pro & EC
only)
3. Measuring 3D buildings with a path or polygon (Google Earth Pro & EC only)
Using the Measuring Tool
To measure length, area, and circumference, you have two options:
• Click the Ruler icon in the toolbar (Tools > Ruler), check the Mouse Navigation
box if it's not already checked, and click in the 3D viewer to start measuring. You can
select different tabs within the measuring tool to change the shape (Path, Polygon,
Circle) that you’re measuring with. The measurements will appear in the dialog box
as you draw. Click Save to save your measurement as a KML file.
• Click the Polygon or Path icon in the toolbar (Add > Path/Polygon), select the
Measurement tab within the dialog box, and click in the 3D viewer to start drawing.
To see measurements for existing shapes, right-click the shape in the Places panel
and click Properties (PC) or Get info (Mac) to open the dialog box and select the
Measurement tab. The measurements appear in the dialog box.
The following table describes the units of measurement available for length,
perimeter, area, and radius.
Available Units of
Type of Measurement
Measurement
Centimeters
Length, Perimeter, and Radius Meters
Kilometers
Inches
Feet
Yards
Miles
Nautical Miles
Smoots
Square Meters
Square Kilometers
Hectares
Area (only available in Google Square Feet
Earth Pro and EC) Square Yards
Square Miles
Square Nautical Miles
Acres
Pro-specific Features
This section details the features that are available exclusively to Google Earth Pro customers. Note
that all of the other features available in Google Earth are also available in Google Earth Pro,
however, these features are only available with a paid subscription to the professional version of the
product. Google Earth Pro is available for purchase through our Online Store. Learn more.
Data Layers
This feature is available to Google Earth Pro and Google Earth EC customers
only.
The US Parcel Data layer provides critical parcel and building information for
commercial and residential real estate within the United States. To access this layer,
click the plus sign (+) next to the Earth Pro (US) folder in the Layers panel to the left of
the 3D viewer. This expands the folder. To view the data in the 3D viewer, click in the
box next to US Parcel Data, zoom in to your area of interest, and click an icon.
Parcel points show details about a particular piece of real estate, while parcel lines
show the perimeter of each parcel of land. Parcel point data includes the parcel number,
country use and zoning codes, legal description, property value, property square
footage, number of beds, and number of baths for residential areas.
Parcel Point data is displayed as blue houses, shopping carts, etc., depending on the
type of property. The larger icons show information for multiple parcels associated with
the same location. Here is a list of the types of icons you'll see:
• Industrial -
• Agricultural -
• Vacant Land -
• Commercial -
• Residential (multi) -
• Residential (single) -
• Mixed use -
• Miscellaneous -
Here's what the ballon looks like once you click on an icon:
Note: Parcel Points and Lines are not comprehensive (some areas in the United States
may be missing) and some areas include more detail than others.
This data has been provided by DataQuick, which provides real property and land data
to businesses. This data is available with a Google Earth Pro or Google Earth EC
license.
only.
The US Demographics layer provides United States Census Tract data . To access this
layer, click the plus sign (+) next to the Earth Pro (US) folder in the Layers panel to the
left of the 3D viewer. This expands the folder. To view the data in the 3D viewer, click in
the box next to US Demographics, zoom in to your area of interest, and click an icon.
Blue icons of two people standing together indicate median values within each census
block, tract, county, or state. As you zoom in, more granular data is available. Click an
icon to see a pie chart of the data. The data includes Last Year (2009) and Four-Year
Projected (2014) data for the following:
• Age
• Education
• Gender
• Households
• Income
• Marital Status
• Vehicle Availability
You can view a thematic map of 2010 Median Age data by clicking the 2010 Median
Age link at the bottom of the balloon. This will open a KML file in the 3D viewer.
This data has been provided by Nielsen Claritas, which sells marketing research,
demographic data, marketing software, and market segmentation services to
businesses. This data is available with a Google Earth EC license.
only.
The US Daily Traffic Counts layer shows the concentration of automobile traffic for
different areas within the United States. To access this layer, click the plus sign (+) next
to the Earth Pro (US) folder in the Layers panel to the side of the 3D viewer. This
expands the folder. To view the data in the 3D viewer, click in the box next to US Daily
Traffic Counts, zoom in to your area of interest, and click an icon. As you zoom in, the
most recent data appears first, and the older data appears as you get closer to your
point of interest.
Traffic data is displayed as blue cars placed at the points where traffic data was
collected. The data includes average daily traffic, the nearest cross street of the count,
the direction from the count to the cross street, and the distance to the nearest cross
street.
Note: Traffic count data is not all from the same year. Some points may have multiple
samples from different years, all of which are displayed within the pop-up balloon when
you click the car icon.
This data has been provided by Market Planning Solutions Inc., which provides site and
market planning solutions for businesses.This data is available with a Google Earth Pro
or Google Earth EC license.
Data Import & Styling
Typically, you will want to customize the numeric values to define buckets in ranges that
are more meaningful for your data. For example, you might modify the ranges displayed
in the example above to round figures typically used to describe square footage for
houses. To do this, simply enter the values you want as the maximum value for each
bucket. As you do this, the number of elements contained by the new definition updates
to reflect your changes.
Keep in mind the following about how to adjust numeric field values:
• You cannot adjust the minimum value for the set, nor the maximum value.
This means that the range for the last bucket is actually defined by the maximum
value of the previous bucket. In the example above, then, if you want to change
the last bucket to contain 4 items, you would decrease the maximum value of the
green bucket until the 'Count' field showed 4. You must adjust the values for
each bucket so as not to collide with the values defined for other buckets.
When organizing your data into buckets, it's easiest to sketch your bucket values
down first before attempting to adjust them in the 'Bucket options' fields, or to
start at one end of the data set and work toward the other. You cannot enter a
value in one bucket that is either greater than the maximum value of the next
bucket, or less than the maximum value of the previous bucket.
For example, in the first color bucket example above, suppose you know that you
want your first bucket to show all houses with a square footage of 5000 or less,
and you want the second bucket to show a narrow range of houses from 5000 to
5500 square feet. If you enter the number 5000 next to the first bucket, you will
receive an alert asking you to pick a number between 2000 and 4822.67.
Because the maximum value of the next higher bucket is 4822.67, you cannot
enter a value in the previous bucket that exceeds it. Thus, to accomplish your
goal, you would first need to adjust the second bucket's maximum value to 5500.
At that point, you could adjust the value of the first bucket to 5000.
• Field data whose numbers exceed a certain number of digits might display
in scientific notation. Depending upon the size of the input box on your screen,
some larger numbers (such as those exceeding 6 digits) will display in scientific
notation. For example, you might see the number '1,628,000' displayed as
'1.628e+06'. If you move the decimal point over 6 places, you will obtain the
number in regular notation.
only.
Use the Data Import feature to import your custom geographic data into Google Earth
and view it as you would any of the layers in the Layers panel. When you use this import
feature, you are importing two basic kinds of data:
• Vector Data - Vector data consists of points, lines, paths, and polygons.
Typically, point data is used to describe specific locations, such as the center of a
city. Lines and paths can be used for road or boundary data, for example, while
polygons might be used to describe parcel data or define other areas such as
lakes. You can import vector data into Google Earth from third-party data
providers, such as ESRI. In addition, you can use generic text files to import point
data that you define yourself. Once you import vector data into the Google Earth
application, you can change its appearance or content in the same way you
would when editing placemarks and folders. In addition, you can use Style
Templates to format your data in visually meaningful ways. You can also display
KML data in a time sequence. To learn more, see Viewing a Timeline.
• Imagery Data - You can import imagery data such as aerial maps or
topographical maps and have the imagery properly projected over the base
imagery in the 3D viewer. For this to work, the imagery file itself must be in the
proper format. Imagery of this type is referred to as 'GIS imagery'.
Note - Import features are available only to Google Earth Pro and EC users.
Once you import vector or imagery data into the Google Earth application, you can save
your modified data just as you would other types of placemarks or overlays.
only.
In addition to importing vector data in SHP, TAB, and other formats, you can define your
own point data and import it into Google Earth. However, only point data can be created
and imported using generic text files.
Generic text files need named columns whose values are separated either by commas,
spaces, or tabs. Do this by creating your data in a spreadsheet application such as
Microsoft Excel and then saving the file as either CSV or TXT format. Alternatively, you
could use a programmatic method to extract data from a database and produce a final
output file in either CSV or TXT format.
If you attempt to import more than 5000 features (i.e., 5000 point data lines) into Google
Earth, this process can take a long time.
You can use geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude) to indicate the position of the
point data in your text file. For importing generic text files, Google Earth supports
coordinates described in
• Degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS)

• Decimal degrees (DDD)
• Degrees, minutes, with decimal seconds (DMM)
Refer to Entering Advanced Coordinates for a detailed description of the

latitude/longitude coordinates supported in Google Earth as well as the type of syntax
supported.
Optional and Descriptive Fields
You can use any number of fields in your custom data file to label and describe the
points and display them the Google Earth application. Optional fields can be defined as
the following values:
• Text or strings - A string field can contain both numbers and alphabetic
characters. What actually defines a string with respect to style templates is that
the string itself is either enclosed in quotation marks, or contains white space so
that it cannot be interpreted as a number.
This is an important distinction to keep in mind when using style templates

applied to fields.
• Integer
• Floating point value
With style templates, you can take advantage of these field types to create useful visual
effects in the 3D viewer such as graphs or color-coding of data based on the values in
the fields.
At minimum, generic text files that you import must contain one or more fields that
specify the location of the point on the earth in order for the data to be correctly
positioned on the globe. This can be specified either with address fields or with
geographic coordinates. However, you cannot use a mix of geographic coordinates and
address fields in a single file.
Note: This feature is only available to Google Earth Pro and EC customers. Learn
more here
This tutorial describes how you can import addresses into Google Earth Pro or EC. You
will import addresses from a sample electronic file and view them in Google Earth Pro or
EC. You can also import latitude and longitude data - learn more.
About Importing Addresses into Google Earth Pro and EC
When you import addresses into Google Earth, each address is converted to a
placemark on the earth that is displayed in the 3D viewer and in the Places panel.
At this time, Google Earth can only ingest such information for addresses located within
the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. Google
Earth cannot place any address that contains a P.O. box.
Your data file can use street-level addressing to position each point on the Earth's
surface. Google Earth can ingest georeferenced and non-georeferenced information. At
this time, Google Earth can only ingest such information for addresses located within the
United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. Google
Earth cannot place any address that contains a P.O. box.
The following types of address formatting are supported:
• Single-address field - You can define the street, city, state, country, and zip
code in a single field. For example, a single field with the column label of
'address' might have the following value:
123 Easy Street, San Jose, CA, 95330 Multiple address fields - You can also
define street, city, state, country, and zip code in multiple fields. In this case, a
field with a column label of 'street' would have as its value:
123 Easy Street
In this scenario, additional fields would be defined for city, state, and zip code.
• Partial address default values - Because some of your points might have only
partial addresses, you can use the data import wizard to define default values for
missing fields, such as state or zip code.
Importing Address Data from the Sample File into Google Earth Pro and EC
Try importing data from a sample CSV file. To do this:
1. Download the sample file. Save this file to a location on your hard drive (for
example C:\SampleData\samplefile.csv).
2. In Google Earth, click File > Import.
3. Browse to the location of the the sample file and select it. Click Open. The Data
Import Wizard appears. Note that this wizard only appears when you import
addresses.
4. Choose the following options:
Field Type - Choose Delimited

Delimited - Choose Comma
5. In the preview pane, look at the data. This pane depicts your data and how it will
appear after it is imported. Notice that the city and state data are in the incorrect
columns. This is because some of the addresses contain a second address
(Address 2), while others do not. Google Earth is set to ignore consecutive
commas as delimiters. To fix this, uncheck Treat consecutive delimiters as one.
6. Click Next. Check This data does not contain latitude/longitude information...
7. Click Next. Choose Addresses are broken into multiple fields...
8. Under Select Address Fields, review the names given to each field.
9. Click Next. Review the list of fields and the type of data selected for each. Note
that this is an optional step. When you are finished, click Back.
10. Click Finish. Google Earth begins geocoding your data.
11. A dialog box appears indicating that Google Earth could not geocode one of your
addresses. This is the last address in the sample file and it is intentionally
formatted incorrectly. This dialog box allows you to view exactly which addresses
did not import correctly so that you can edit the data or refine how you import
your data in Google Earth.
12. A dialog box appears and asks you if you want to apply a style template. Click
Yes. The Style Template Settings dialog box appears.
13. Click the Color tab. Choose Use single color and click the adjacent button to pick
a color for the icon which depicts the addresses in the 3D viewer.
14. Click the Icon tab. Choose Use same icon for all features and click the adjacent
field to choose the icon (example ) that will display at the location of each
address in the 3D viewer.
15. Click the Height tab. Choose Clamp feature to the ground. This sets the icons to
display at ground level in the 3D viewer.
16. Click OK. The Save Template dialog box appears. Save the template as a file
(.kst) that you can use when you import and format data in the future.
17. You are done! Google Earth displays your address data as icons in the 3D
viewer. You can edit the properties of these placemarks as you would any other
placemark.
Note - The imported data is located in the Temporary Places folder within the
Places Panel. Before you exit Google Earth, you need to drag this data out of this
folder and choose File > Save > Save My Places.
©2010 Google - Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - About Google
Updated on Jan 1 2010 Wed May 4 2011
This feature is only available to Google Earth Pro and Google Earth EC customers only.
Your data file can use street-level addressing to position each point on the Earth's surface. Google
Earth can ingest georeferenced and non-georeferenced information. At this time, Google Earth can
only ingest such information for addresses located within the United States, United Kingdom,
Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. Google Earth cannot place any address that contains a
P.O. box.
• Single-address field - You can define the street, city, state, country, and zip code in a single
field. For example, a single field with the column label of 'address' might have the following
value:
123 Easy Street, San Jose, CA, 95330 Multiple address fields - You can also define street,
city, state, country, and zip code in multiple fields. In this case, a field with a column label of
'street' would have as its value:
123 Easy Street
In this scenario, additional fields would be defined for city, state, and zip code.
• Partial address default values - Because some of your points might have only partial
addresses, you can use the data import wizard to define default values for missing fields,
such as state or zip Code.
Google Earth Pro and EC support the following kinds of vector data:
• Points
• Lines and paths
• Polygons, including filled polygons
The process of importing vector data files is simple:
1. Import the vector file using one of the following ways:

◦ Drag and drop - Locate the file on your computer or a network server and drag it over
the Google Earth 3D viewer.
◦ Select Open or Import... from the File menu - When you choose this option, you can
specifically select the type of data you're importing (i.e., TXT, SHP, TAB) or indicate All
data import formats from the select menu.
You can also open a file from a machine on the network as you would open any file. In
addition, if you want to open a file located on a web browser, you must first download the file
and all related files to your computer or local network and then open it.
2. At the prompt, choose whether or not to apply a style template. If you select Yes to apply a
style template, you can define a new one at that point, or select an existing one if one has
already been defined for that data file. For more information, see Using Style Templates.
Once imported, the vector elements appear in the 3D viewer and the imported file is listed under the
'Temporary Places' folder. Labels, icons, color, and description appear just as they do for other types
of places and folders depending upon how you have defined them using the style template.
Note: If you don't use a style template to modify the appearance of the data you've ingested,
Google Earth looks for a 'Name' field to use as the label for your data. This label appears in
the 3D viewer next to points as well as in the listing beneath 'Temporary Places'. If your data
does not contain a 'Name' field, the first available field that contains text is used as the label
for data.
The rest of this section covers the following topics:
• Using third party vector data

• Using generic text files that contain tab- or comma-separated point data. Only users of
Google Earth EC or Google Earth PRO can import GIS vector data files. However all Google
Earth versions can import generic text files
• Importing imagery
• A brief discussion of projections and datums
Using Third Party Vector Data
Google Earth EC and Google Earth PRO users with the data import module can import the following
vector file formats:
• MapInfo (TAB) - Required files include:

◦ MAP ID
◦ DAT
• ESRI Shape (SHP) - Requires SHX Projection information, which can either be built into the
SHP file or defined in a separate file with a PRJ extension DBF (for viewing field data)
Most third-party GIS vector data comes as a collection of related files that operate together to
produce all the vector data you see in Google Earth. Be aware that if expected data does not display
in the 3D viewer, it might be due to missing support files. Those vector file types that require
additional support files are indicated in the list above.
Note - You can also use generic text files to create your own point data for use in Google
Earth.
Recommended for large data files, Vector Data Regionation automatically optimizes your files by
limiting the number of points displayed at higher altitudes. This is similar to the technology used for
Gigapan Photos (in the Gallery layer) in Google Earth; as you zoom in, you'll see increasingly more
points.
You can access this feature by clicking Tools > Regionate. Select a KML file to regionate, identify a
folder on your computer where the regionated files will be stored, and click OK to regionate your
data.
Watch this video to see how Vector Regionation works:
Note: If you're trying to regionate a file that is not in KML format, you'll first need to import your file to
convert it to KML.
You can open GIS imagery files in Google Earth Pro or EC and have the files correctly projected
over the proper map coordinates in the 3D viewer. Google Earth Pro and EC support the following
types of GIS imagery:
• TIFF (.tif), including GeoTiff and compressed TIFF files

• National Imagery Transmission Format (.ntf)
• Erdas Imagine Images (.img)
In addition, you can also import the following images. Because they do not contain projection
information, you must manually edit their coordinates for correct positioning. Be sure that all imagery
files contain the correct projection information to ensure they will be accurately re-projected in
Google Earth Pro.
• Atlantis MFF Raster (.hdr)

• PCIDSK Database File (.pix)
• Portable Pixmap Format (.pnm)
• Device Independent Bitmap (.bmp)
Note: If the image you're importing is larger than your machine's max texture size, the image
will be converted to a Super Image Overlay.
The rest of this section covers:
• Opening GIS Imagery

• Saving GIS Imagery
Opening GIS Imagery
Use any one of the methods below to open the imagery file in Google Earth Pro or EC:
• Select Open from the 'File' menu.

• Drag the desired file from an explorer window and drop it over the viewer.
Google Earth then attempts to reproject the image to a Simple Cylindrical, WGS84 coordinate
system. From this, it creates an overlay with the image converted to PNG format. The overlay
edit window appears, and you can set the location of the new overlay in any folder inside the
'Places' panel. You can also set the properties for the GIS imagery as you would any other
overlay.
The following should be noted when importing GIS imagery data:
• The reprojected image is saved as an overlay. The image is saved under the
Google Earth directory on your hard drive. The name of the PNG file is based on the
source file name and the scaling or cropping parameters selected when importing the
overlay. (See below for more information on scaling or cropping an image.
• For larger image files, reprojection can take some time.
If you have cropped or scaled an input image, or if you are reprojecting an image that
uses more texture memory, you will see a progress meter while the reprojection
occurs. You can cancel the operation at any time. Images that contain no projection
information are treated as ordinary overlay files.
In this case, you can position the image manually as you would an overlay image.
• Images that contain incorrect or unsupported projection information will not be
imported.
In this case, a dialog box indicates that the reprojection cannot be performed and the
image will not be imported.
Note - Currently, files using NAD83 projection are not supported by Google Earth.
Saving GIS Imagery
Once you have imported imagery data into Google Earth Pro or EC, you can save content
changes made to the imported GIS data as follows:
• Move the imported imagery to remain in your 'My Places' folder - If you have
already placed the imagery overlay within the 'My Places' folder, any changes you
make to it are automatically saved and viewable each time you start Google Earth.
• Save the imagery overlay as a KMZ file - If you wish to remove the imported imagery
from your 'My Places' folder, you can right-click the item and select Save As... from the
pop-up menu and save the GIS overlay as a KMZ file to your computer's hard drive or
other accessible file location. After that, you can delete the overlay from your 'My
Places' list and open it later when you need it.
Super Image Overlays, or Image Regionation, allows you to import large images and have them
automatically optimized by limiting the number of pixels displayed at higher altitudes. Your image will
be split into tiles and scaled according to your zoom level. This is similar to the technology used for
Google Earth imagery layers, and it's the reason why you see more detail as you zoom in to the
globe. Take a look at this U.S. Geological Survey image of Mineral Resources in Portsmouth,
Virginia to see the amount of detail that’s preserved through Image Regionation. The raised box
shows what you'll see if you zoom in to that tiny square on the map.
Note: You'll only be given the Super Image Overlays option if the image you're importing is larger
than your Max Texture Size. If your image is smaller than your Max Texture Size, the image will not
be regionated. Instead, it will be imported as is.
To View your Max Texture Size, click Help > About Google Earth on a PC (Google Earth > About
Google Earth on a Mac).
If your file is larger than your Max Texture size, you can access this feature by following these steps
on a PC:
1. Click File > Import.

2. Select your file.
3. If you're using a PC, choose your image file type from the Files of type drop-down.
Note: This will only work for images that have geographic information attached to them (such
as GeoTIFF files).
4. Click Open.
5. You'll see a dialog box that says you're being flown to the location of your file.
6. You'll then be asked whether you want to Create Super Overlay, Scale, or Crop the image.
Select Create Super Overlay.
7. Browse for and select the folder where you want the super overlay hierarchy of images to be
stored.
8. Click OK
9. Wait for the image to import (you'll see a dialog box telling you that the image is importing).
This process could take several minutes depending on how large your image is.
Your Image will be saved to your My Places folder to the side of the 3D Viewer.
This section covers the basic steps for applying a style template to vector data that contains fields
you want to have displayed in the 3D viewer. You can apply style templates to newly ingested data
or to existing KML data. In addition, you can modify existing templates using the steps below.
Note - Style templates are quite specific to the data you are working with. While you can use the
same style template for different data that has the same fields, the template settings will often have
to be adjusted to represent the data properly. As your original data set changes with new data, you
might also need to adjust the template to accommodate new information.
1. Choose the data that will have the style template applied to it. If you are importing the
data for the first time, simply click the Yes button when prompted to apply a style template.
2. If you already have this data in your 'Places' panel, select the parent folder and click Edit >
Apply Style Template. (Use this method when you want to edit a recently-created style
template.)
3. In the 'Style Template Settings ' dialog box, indicate whether you are creating a new template
or using an existing one.
4. If you have an existing style template for your data, it appears in the 'Compatible templates'
list along with any other style template that is compatible to the data you have selected. If you
choose to use an existing style template, select the correct one from the list. If you simply
want to apply the template to your data without changing the template itself, leave the 'edit
selected template' check box clear. To edit the style template, select the check box.
5. When you create new template or edit an existing one, the 'Style Template Settings' dialog
box appears.
6. Choose a field from your data that you want to use as a Name, or label, for your data. This
name appears in the 3D viewer as well as in the Places panel that lists the data points.
8. Click on the Color tab and map an element of your data to color styles. See Mapping Color
Styles for details.
9. Click the Icon tab and map and element of your data to one or more icons. See Mapping
Icons to Point Data for details.
10. Click the Height tab to map a height value to a data element. See Mapping Height Values for
details.
11. Click OK when you are finished defining your styles. The values defined appear in the 3D
viewer.
The rest of this section discusses in detail how to apply template values to data. Finally, you can use
the instructions in A Style Template Example to walk through the process of defining a style template
on sample point data from a text file.
Mapping Color Styles
You can apply color to selected fields in your imported data. In this case, color is applied to the
feature depending upon the type of data imported:
• Icons are colored with point data

• Lines are colored when applying to lines or paths
• Solid polygons are colored with shape data
Use the color style to color these elements in a meaningful way depending upon both the data type
and the field data within the entire set. You can use three mechanisms to color data:
• Use a single color for all features

• Use random colors
• Set colors based on field values
The rest of this section describes how to use these color application methods.
Using a Single Color
If you want to use one color for all the points or lines from your imported data, select the 'Use single
color' option and click the colored square next to the option. From the color selector, choose a color
or define your own color to apply to the data.
Using Random Colors
To use a variety of colors that are applied randomly by Google Earth, select the 'Use random colors'
option.
Note - The line or point data will be colored based on values supplied by Google Earth. If you
are also supplying an icon for point data, the color is added to the existing color of the icon.
Setting Colors Based on Field Values
While applying colors to data features helps distinguish features from each other in the 3D viewer,
using colors based on field values provides a way to display data about the feature set that you
couldn't otherwise easily display. For example, you might want to set a short range of colors based
on the square footage of real estate listings. Or, you might want to set a range of colors for shape
files showing average household income.
Use the following steps to define color values by a data field.
1. Select the Set color from field option in the Color tab.
2. Choose the field that you want to apply color data to from the Set color field drop-down list.
Here, you can choose either numeric fields or text fields from your data. See Choosing Field
Types for Style Mapping.
3. Choose the starting and ending color (optional) for your color mapping. By default, the style
template "color buckets" are created from blue and mapped through the spectrum to red. If
you want to change the color range, you can click each color block and set the starting and
ending colors as desired. Google Earth automatically calculates the color range between the
two chosen values.
4. Use the Number of buckets selector to indicate how to group the range of field values. This
option is only available for fields with numeric data. The ranges for each bucket are
automatically computed, but can be adjusted manually. See Customizing the Value Range for
Numeric Data for details. To learn how buckets behave for string and numeric fields, see
Using Buckets for Field Data.
5. Make any further desired adjustments.
◦ Subfolders - You can create subfolders for each color bucket so that the 'Places'
listing displays the data elements grouped by color into their respective folders. This
makes it easier for you to show or hide the display of color groups simply by selecting
or removing the check box next to the folder. Once you select the sub-folder option,
you must provide a name for your sub-folder in order for the data to be properly
grouped in the 'Places' listing. Note that you can only define a single sub-folder option
for either color or icon display.
◦ Color display order - You can click the Reverse order button to reverse the display
order of the color range. So, if you have a range of colors starting with blue for the first
element and ending with red for the last one, reversing the order will apply red to the
first element and blue to the last.
◦ Color adjustments to single buckets - You can modify each color element
individually by clicking on it and adjusting the color for that particular value or value
range. In addition, you can modify the settings for numeric buckets to adjust the spread
of the data to your preference. See Customizing the Value Range for Numeric Data to
learn how to adjust the numeric ranges once you choose the number of buckets for a
range of numbers.
6. Click the OK button to apply and view your changes. - Save the style template. You can
always edit the template to apply icon and height styles or to make additional color
adjustments. Do this by following the instructions in Applying a Style Template.
Mapping Icons to Point Data
As with color, you can apply icons to fields in your data. However, icons can only be mapped to point
data, so if you are importing line or shape data, the Icon style tab will be unavailable. You can use
two mechanisms for mapping icons to points:
• Use the same icon for all features - To do this, simply select the Use same icon for all
features option and choose an icon from the drop-down list.
• Set icon from a field - The actions for doing this are similar to those described in Mapping
Color Styles, and are described in the sections that follow.
Setting Icons Based on Fields
These steps describe the basic process of mapping icons to fields in your data. The following steps
describe the basic process for defining color values by a data field.
1. Select the 'Set icon from field' option in the Icon tab.
2. Choose the field that you want to apply icon labels to from the 'Set icon from field' drop-down
list. Here, you can choose either numeric fields or text fields from your data. See Choosing
Field Types for Style Mapping.
3. Use the 'Number of buckets' selector to indicate how to group the range of field values. This
option is only available for fields with numeric data. The ranges for each bucket are
automatically computed but can be adjusted manually. See Customizing the Value Range for
Numeric Data for details. To learn how buckets behave for string and numeric fields, see
Using Buckets for Field Data.
4. For each bucket defined, select an icon from the list.
5. Make any further desired adjustments:
◦ Subfolders - You can create subfolders for each icon bucket so that the 'Places' listing
displays the data elements grouped by the folder label into their respective folders.
This makes it easier for you to show or hide the display of icon groups simply by
selecting or removing the check box next to the folder. Once you select the subfolder
option, you must provide a name for your sub-folder in order for the data to be properly
grouped in the 'Places' listing.
Note: You can only define a single subfolder option for either color or icon display.
◦ Icon adjustments to single buckets - You can modify each icon element individually
by clicking on it and adjusting the icon for that particular value or value range.
◦ In addition, you can modify the settings for numeric buckets to adjust the spread of the
data to your preference. See Customizing the Value Range for Numeric Data to learn
how to adjust the numeric ranges once you choose the number of buckets for a range
of numbers.
6. Click OK to apply and view your changes.
7. Save the style template. You can always edit the template to apply icon and height styles or to
make additional color adjustments. Do this by following the instructions in Applying a Style
Template.
Mapping Height Values
By default, no height values are defined initially in the 'Height' tab. Use the 'Height' tab in the 'Style
Template Settings' dialog box to set height values from a selected field. Once height values are
activated, points, lines, or shapes are extruded from ground level to the height defined for each data
element. If you map height to lines or shapes, the values you define work in combination with the
colors defined in the 'Color' tab.
On the other hand, if you map height to point data, those points are extruded using a single pixel
colored line to connect the icon from its elevated position to the ground. You can use style settings to
modify the width and color of those lines if you wish.
The rest of this section covers details for using height values effectively, including:
• Height Values for Text Fields

• Height Values for Numeric Fields
• Using Style Settings to Modify Point Display
Height Values for Text Fields
The height map settings for text fields differ from those for numeric fields. If the field you choose to
map contains text data, the first 8 unique fields are each defined in their own container, or bucket.
For this reason, it makes sense to only map height values to a field that has 8 or fewer unique
values. See Choosing Field Types for Style Mapping for more details.
When you map height values to a text field, the following settings are available:
• Individual height values - The height mapping wizard automatically calculates reasonable
height values for your data given its geographical extents. For example, for points clustered
around a small region, 20 - 2000 meters might be adequate to view all points as elevated
when looking at the entire set in the 3D viewer. On the other hand, if your data set
encompasses an entire state, higher values are calculated so that height is apparent when
looking over the entire region in the 3D viewer.
You can always modify the height values by hand to adjust each point to your preference. In
general, the greater the distinction between each point, the easier it is to visualize that
distinction in the 3D viewer from a distance. Height units - By default, height units are set to
meters, but you can change them to feet if you prefer. When you change the default value
from meters to feet, you might want to adjust the values in each bucket upward to make the
data visible in the 3D viewer.
• Scaling factor - Use the 'Scaling factor' slider to uniformly adjust the numeric values in all
height fields. The slider provides a general factor from .1 times the value to 10 times the value
defined in each field. If you manually adjust the height values, you can also use the 'Scaling
factor' slider to make further adjustments to those numbers.
Height Values for Numeric Fields
When you map height values to a numeric field in your data, you can choose from two types of
mapping methods: continuous or split into buckets.
Using Continuous Mapping
The continuous mapping method uses the minimum and maximum values of your selected field to
determine a minimum and maximum height display for the entire set. It then maps all data within the
set in a way that best corresponds to each individual field. In the example, the 'Square_footage' field
is used to map height values, with the minimum value of 2000 and a maximum value of 6234. Each
of the 9 elements in the set is displayed at a slightly different height value that most accurately
displays its relationship to the other points. This particular method is useful in smaller data sets
where individual distinctions between points or shapes are easily visualized.
With the continuous mapping method, you can use the 'Scaling factor' slider and the 'Height units'
selector as described above in Height Values for Text Fields. Additionally, you can enter the desired
height you want for the beginning and ending ranges of your data. For example, you might want
houses starting at 2000 feet to be displayed in the 3D viewer at a height of 100 meters, and houses
at the ending range to be displayed at a height of 5000 meters.
In the 3D viewer, the visual distinction between individual elements using this method is affected by
both the height range you set and by the number of elements in the data. For example, a range of
100 - 5000 meters for a set containing only 9 elements creates a visually distinct height for each
point.
If you decrease the range or increase the number of elements in the set, the distinction between
each element diminishes.
Splitting Values into Buckets
Use the 'Split into buckets' mapping method to create up to 8 height groupings for your data. This
method works well for large data sets where continuously mapped heights are not easily visualized in
the 3D viewer. For example, if your data set contains over 1000 housing listings clustered around a
small region, it might be difficult to see the actual difference between houses in different height
categories. By using the 'Split into buckets' option, you can create more meaningful categories and
define visually distinct gaps in their display. For example, you might have all listings between 2000 -
3000 square feet display at a height of 500 meters, all listings between 3000 - 4000 square feet
display at a height of 1500 meters, and so on. While this method will not distinguish a house at 3000
square feet from one at 3200 square feet, it will allow a more immediate visual grasp of the
categories you have defined.
As with color and icon styles, the maximum value for each bucket is automatically computed, but can
be adjusted manually. Use the 'Scaling factor' slider and the 'Height units' selector for this method as
described above in Height Values for Text Fields. As you set the number of buckets and define the
maximum value for each bucket, the Style Template wizard displays the count of items for each
bucket. For more details, see Using Buckets for Field Data.
Using Style Settings to Modify Point Display
The color values you set for point data are applied to the icon that you map to points as well as to the
line that is extruded from the point on the earth for the height of the line, as shown in the real estate
listing example above. However, in some cases it might not be easy to visualize a single-pixel line in
the 3D viewer against the earth imagery.
In that case, you can edit the style settings for each point in order to modify the line thickness.
1. Right-point you want to modify and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
2. In the Edit Placemark dialog box, in the 'Style, Color' tab, modify the point's appearance as
appropriate.
3. Click OK.
Since this process is not practical for large data sets, you might consider applying changes to entire
folders or subfolders. Beware that if you do this, any individually defined styles will be lost. In this
case, use the sub-folder feature of the 'Style Template' wizard to group similarly styled data into
subfolders. Make sure that each folder created has similar color and icon data. Then, apply the
height value to your data and save the style template. Later, use the steps above to create shared
styles for each subfolder you set up. As long as all of the data within each folder has the same color
value and the same icon value, changes to the line thickness will not impact those settings.
Using Buckets for Field Data
When using color, icon, or height mapping for specific fields in your data set, you typically define a
number of buckets, or containers, to distinguish different ranges of data. The sections that follow
describe how different field types are interpreted by style templates, as well as how you can adjust
the range of values when mapping numeric data.
Choosing Field Types for Style Mapping
You can choose two basic types of fields from your data when mapping color, icon, or height values:
• Text (string) fields - If the field that you map to color or other style contains non-numeric
data (i.e., text and other characters), the application looks for the first 8 unique text fields, and
maps those fields to the style. If there are fewer than 8 values in your data, each unique value
is paired to a different color, icon, or height. If there are more than 8 values, the first 8 unique
values are mapped to a style, and the rest of the values are grouped together and mapped to
a ninth style. For this reason, it typically is most useful to apply a style to text fields that
contain small unique sets.
For example, in the real estate example described in A Style Template Example, there is a
field in the data called 'School_district'. This field defines the school district ratings for each
listed house. Because there are only three districts: 'AA', 'AAA', and 'AAAA', it makes sense to
use a style to distinguish this type of text field. You might, for instance, decide to map a height
to this field, so that users viewing your data see the highest points as those belonging to
houses in the highest-rated districts, and so on.
• Numeric field - If the field that you choose contains numeric data, the application
automatically apportions the numeric data across the number of buckets that you select, and
provides a count of items in each bucket. If you increase or decrease the number of buckets,
the application automatically re-apportions the number of elements for each bucket.

Note - If you are using a spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Excel to create your data,
be sure that the cell format you choose for numeric fields has been set to numeric and not
text. If you have numeric fields in your CSV saved from a spreadsheet, but the 'Style
Template' wizard is not recognizing it as numeric, it might be due to incorrect formatting. To
verify whether the actual field is marked as text or numeric, open the CSV file in a simple text
editor and look at the field in question. If it is enclosed in double quotation marks, then it has
been defined as text — even if there are only numbers within the quotations. You can remove
the quotation marks manually from the file, or open your spreadsheet application and format
the cells as numeric and save the CSV data again.
Often the data you import into Google Earth contains multiple features that are not automatically
converted into a readily visible feature in the 3D viewer. For example, a shape file defining the
population boundaries for a specific region might have a field that supplies the population number for
each boundary defined in the data. Or, a CSV file might contain real estate listings with a field
showing the square footage of each listing.
You can use style templates when importing this data in order to display fields in your data in
meaningful ways.
This is accomplished by 'mapping' or connecting specific fields in your imported data to one of four
template display features:
• 'Name' - By default, if a field for your data contains the phrase 'name' as its label, Google
Earth maps that field to the name displayed in the viewer for your point. However, you can
map any field in your imported data to the Name element.
• 'Color' - The color field applies color to your data. Icons are colored if you import point data,
and shapes or lines are colored if you imported that type of data. For more information, see
Mapping Color Styles.
• 'Icons' - You can use the icon display feature to select an icon from the list for your imported
point data. You can select a single icon for all point data, apply icons randomly, or select
specific icons for specific fields. See Mapping Icons to Point Data.
• 'Height' - The height feature generates a height for the selected column in your data. If the
selected data is numeric, height values can be spread across a range of values. If the data is
text, icons can be supplied to individual fields. See Mapping Height Values.
• Applying a Style Template

• Customizing the Value Ranges for Numeric Data
• A Style Template Example
Data Export & Presentations
After saving an image, you can print it only if you have the proper licensing available through the
purchase of Google Earth Pro.
Once you license Google Earth Pro, you can use Google Earth Pro images and data for marketing
purposes as long as this data is not sold to any third parties, the images contain copyright and
source information, and the images are not used in on-air media without obtaining a special
approval. Visit Google's Geo Permissions Guidelines for more details. You may also want to review
the Google Earth Licensing Agreement for specific licensing information.
You can use the Movie Maker feature of Google Earth to record 3D viewer imagery and save the
recording as a movie file. You can either set the recorder to record your interactions with the 3D
viewer in real-time, or you can set up a tour and record the entire tour without interruption.
Once you finish recording and have saved your file, you can make the file available on a web site,
use it in a presentation, or send it via email. For instance, you might want to create a movie of your
property to present to clients or at trade shows where visitors can see satellite views of your property
without having to use Google Earth.
The Movie Maker feature supports different movie file formats:
• Windows Media Video (WMV) - (Windows and Linux only) This output file format is
compressed and optimized for presentations. These WMV files can be further configured for
the best type of delivery, such as via a T1 web connection or over a 56K modem connection.
• Audio Video Interleave (AVI) - (Windows and Linux only) Movies created in AVI format are
uncompressed and as a result, generate extremely large files, making it almost impossible for
a standard movie player to play back the recording. This is useful only if you want to edit the
movie clips using a movie editing software.
• Image Stream (JPG) - Movies can be captured as images in variable or fixed length. This
format is useful if you want to control the speed artificially and edit each screenshot (frame by
frame).
• QuickTime - (Mac only) Movies can be captured in Apple QuickTime .mov format.
Tip - After reading through these steps, follow a tutorial on this subject.
Follow these steps to record your movie:
1. Decide if you want to record a movie in real-time (based on your mouse and keyboard
movements) or record a movie based on an existing tour.
2. If you decide you want to record a tour first, follow these steps to draw a path and save it
before recording your movie. Save your 'Places' by going to File > Save > Save My Places
and then play through the entire tour at least once before proceeding.
3. From the Tools menu, select Movie Maker. The Movie Maker dialog box appears.
4. From the 'Supported Compression Formats' selector, choose the desired compression
format for your movie. If you want to have a movie format other than WMV (Windows Media
Video) or .mov (QuickTime), check the 'Advanced' checkbox and choose the format. If you
choose another movie format, only standard AVI compression is available. Note that AVI
formats are not compressed and therefore will result in large files.
5. Select 'High Quality' or 'Standard Quality' as the movie quality. See Movie Quality Levels
for details.
6. Choose the Frames Per Second (FPS) you desire for your movie. The highest FPS
setting, '60', offers the smoothest movie viewing experience, but at the cost of a large file size.
For instance, if you want to record a 800 x 600 movie at 60 FPS, you will not achieve the best
results. In this case, choose a lower setting in order to produce a smaller file. The lower the
FPS setting, the more jerky the movie will be. You'll want to find the best compromise
between frame transition and file size. Typically, a setting of 30 works fairly well for movies
that you want to provide over the Internet.
7. Choose the resolution for your movie. You'll want to choose a resolution that is appropriate
for your final movie display. For example, you might have a computer screen projector that
only supports a 800 x 600 format. You can specify the following resolutions, which indicate
the width and height of the movie in pixels:
◦ 320 x 240
◦ 640 x 480
◦ 800 x 600
◦ 720 x 480 (NTSC) - This setting works well with large screen displays.
◦ 720 x 576 (PAL)
◦ 1280x720 (HD)
◦ 1920x1080 (HD)
Note - Recording time in high quality movies occurs very slowly, since each
frame is fully processed before the next one is viewed.
8. Specify a name for your movie. Click on the Browse button and navigate to a location on
your computer where you want to save the movie file when you are finished recording. Type
in a name for the file in the file dialog box and click the OK button. Alternatively, you can
select an existing movie file in the same format as the one you are about to create, and that
file will be overwritten with the contents of your new recording.
Note - If you are recording your movie as an image stream, it's best to choose a new
filename or folder location rather than overwriting an existing image stream selection.
7. Click the Record Tour button. The button is available only after you enter a valid
filename for your movie. When the movie begins recording, the Movie Maker dialog
box appears below so you can visualize the recording of the movie.
8. Either double-click your tour in your Places panel to play it, or use your keyboard and
mouse to navigate the globe. All of your movements will be recorded.
When You Are Finished
When you are finished the steps of recording movies, to stop recording, click the Stop
Recording button in the Movie Maker dialog box. Once you finish recording your movie, you
can open the movie file in a media player that supports the movie format you selected and
play back the movie to view the results. If you are satisfied with the results, you can post the
file to a local server or use it in a presentation.
This section covers a number of tips to help you create quality movies. We recommend you familiarize
yourself with these tips before beginning your recording in order to produce the best possible movie for
your needs.
Note: The time slider is not available when you record movies.
Update Your Movie Player
Having the latest version of Windows Media Player or Apple QuickTime installed is absolutely essential
to making good quality movies, especially if you are having issues with the graphics quality of your
movie. We highly recommend that you download Windows Media Player 9 or above:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/9series/default.aspx
Or for the Mac:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/mac/default.aspx
You can find the latest version of Apple QuickTime here:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/
Update Your Graphics Card Driver
Although graphics card drivers have no impact on the actual recording of your movie, a faulty graphics
card driver can produce anomalies in your 3D viewer that then transfer into the movie itself. Therefore,
it's always good practice to update your driver to avoid any possible rendering issues. We recommend
that you use a graphics card with at least 64 MB of video RAM or above.
Increase Your Memory Cache
By increasing your memory cache size, your movie recording experience will go faster (although it will
have no impact on the final quality of your movie). To increase your memory cache, see Memory and
Disk Cache Preferences.
Increase the Detail Area of the 3D Viewer
Increasing the area of detail for your 3D viewer helps to capture all the pixels in more detail. As a result,
the resolution of your movie is improved. See Viewing Preferences for instructions.
Note - Set 'Detail Area' to 'Large' if you have 64 MB of graphics card memory or more. If you
have less than 64 MB of graphics card memory, set 'Detail Area' to 'Medium'.
Adjust the Touring Speed
When recording, it is best to use a relatively slow tour speed. However, feel free to experiment with
different speeds and then play the movie back to evaluate whether the speed is appropriate. See Using
Tours for details.
Note - The tour speed you choose will be consistent throughout the movie. If you want to set
different tour speeds for different Placemarks in the same movie, you will need to create separate
movie files for each tour and then edit them in a movie making software.
Adjust the Elevation Exaggeration
If you want to enhance the appearance of terrain in your movie, you can adjust the 'Elevation
Exaggeration' as described in Viewing Preferences.
Showing or Hiding Items in the 3D Viewer
To hide or show the compass, status bar, scale legend or grid, simply uncheck or check these items in
the View menu. Likewise, in this same menu, you can check or uncheck Atmosphere to hide the
atmosphere around the globe when viewed at full horizon or from space. See also:
• Using the Overview Map

• 3D Viewer Options
• Viewing a Timeline
Preview Your Tour Setup Before Recording
It's a good idea to set up and review the tour points you want to visit in your movie. This involves two
simple actions:
• In the 'Places' panel, select either an entire folder to view all the placemarks within it, or select
individual items in the folder to view only selected ones. See Using Tours for details.
• Click the Play button that appears below the 'Places' panel to play the tour. This tour is the same
tour that will be followed if you use the 'High Quality Movie' option, so you can have a sense of
what your movie will look like by playing the tour. See Using Tours for details.
After previewing your movie, be sure to make any adjustments necessary before recording. For
example, if you want to change the view of a particular placemark on the tour, you can always right-click
the placemark, then select 'Snapshot View' in the menu. This will overwrite your existing placemark
view. See Editing Places and Folders for more details.
Set Up Your System for Maximum Efficiency
Making movies is a memory-intensive and graphics-intensive process. It's best not to have multiple large
applications running on your computer during recording. Disable both screen savers and pop-up
blockers.
Advanced Measuring Tools

Google Earth offers a number of tools that you can use to measure distances and estimate sizes.
Depending upon which version of Google Earth you're using, you might have access to the following
measuring tools:
1. Measuring length on the ground with a line or path (all versions of Google Earth)
2. Measuring circumference and area with a polygon or circle (Google Earth Pro & EC only)
3. Measuring 3D buildings with a path or polygon (Google Earth Pro & EC only)
Using the Measuring Tool
To measure length, area, and circumference, you have two options:
• Click the Ruler icon in the toolbar (Tools > Ruler), check the Mouse Navigation box if it's not
already checked, and click in the 3D viewer to start measuring. You can select different tabs
within the measuring tool to change the shape (Path, Polygon, Circle) that you’re measuring
with. The measurements will appear in the dialog box as you draw. Click Save to save your
measurement as a KML file.
• Click the Polygon or Path icon in the toolbar (Add > Path/Polygon), select the
Measurement tab within the dialog box, and click in the 3D viewer to start drawing. To see
measurements for existing shapes, right-click the shape in the Places panel and click
Properties (PC) or Get info (Mac) to open the dialog box and select the Measurement tab.
The measurements appear in the dialog box.
Marking and saving places
Marking and saving places
Save individual placemarks, shapes, or entire folders by right-clicking the item and
selecting Save As... from the pop-up menu.
Use the 'File' dialog box to save the placemark or folder to your computer. Enter the
name for the new file, and click Save in the dialog box. The placemark or the folder is
saved to that location with an extension of '.kmz'.
You may want to use this feature if:
• You want to share the saved data with other Google Earth users. You can
email any placemark, shape, or folder to another Google Earth user from within
Google Earth, but you can also email any KMZ file located on your computer to a
Google Earth user. In addition, you can post a KMZ file to the Google Earth BBS
where other Google Earth users can view the information, or you can serve the
file on your own web server or from any network location. See Sharing Places
Information for details.
• You have so many places in your My Places folder that Google Earth
startup is slow. Each time you start Google Earth, all the places data is
processed during startup, even if it is not turned on in the 3D viewer. Holding a
large amount of data in the 'My Places' folder can impact the performance of
Google Earth, depending upon your computer. By saving folders to your hard
drive, you can improve Google Earth performance by then deleting the data from
your My Places folder once they are saved to disk. You can always open the data
you save at any time.
You can save any point of interest (POI) displayed in the 3D viewer to the 'My Places'
folder by right-clicking (CTRL clicking on the Mac) on the placemark in the viewer and
selecting Save to My Places from the pop-up menu.
You can also use the copy feature as follows:
1. Right-click a POI and select Copy from the pop-up menu.

2. Open the My Places folder to display the destination folder for the POI.
3. Position your cursor over the desired folder or sub-folder.
4. Right-click and select Paste from the pop-up menu. The POI appears in the
location you selected.
See Showing and Hiding Points of Interest for more information on viewing points of
interest in the 3D viewer.
You can also move a saved POI to any folder in your 'Places' panel. See Organizing
Places for more information.
You can use the following methods to open placemarks and folders saved to the file
system on your computer's hard drive.
• From the File menu, select Open. Navigate to the folder on your computer that
contains the KMZ or KML data you want to open in Google Earth. Select the file
and click the Open button. The folder or placemark appears beneath the
'Temporary Places' folder and the 3D viewer flies to the view set for the folder or
placemark (if any).
• Locate the file you want to open. Once you have located the file on your
computer, you can simply drag and drop the KMZ file over the 'Places' panel or
3D viewer. The 3D viewer load the file and flies to the view set for the folder or
placemark (if any).
Tip: When you use the drag-and-drop method of opening a placemark or folder,
you can drop the item over a specific folder in the 'Places' panel. If the 'My
Places' folder is closed and you want to drop it there, just hold the item over the
'My Places' folder until the folder opens up and you can place the item within
subfolders or in the list. Items dropped in the 'My Places' folder appear the next
time you start Google Earth. Otherwise, you can drop the item in the 'Temporary
Places' folder. Items opened this way appear only for the current session of
Google Earth unless you save them.
Retrieving and Moving Your Placemarks File
Retrieving your Saved Placemarks
All of your placemarks are automatically saved locally on your computer's hard drive.
You can use the following method to retrieve your saved placemarks:
If you are a PC user, you can retrieve your saved placemarks as follows:
1. Click on Start > Run on your Windows desktop.

2. In the Open: bar, type or copy and paste in "C:\Documents and Settings\%
username%\Application Data\Google\GoogleEarth" without the quotation marks.
3. Select OK, and in the directory, click on the myplaces.kml file to retrieve your file. In
the event that you're trying to replace your corrupted myplaces.kml file, we'd suggest
using the myplaces.backup.kml file.
If you are a Mac user, you can retrieve your saved placemarks as follows:
1. Open the Finder.

2. Open your Hard Drive.
3. Choose the Library folder > then the Application Support folder.
4. Select the Google Earth folder which should contain several files.
5. Locate the myplaces.kml file. This is the latest file that was successfully saved,
and the file you will want to move to your new computer. In the event that you're
trying to replace your corrupted myplaces.kml file, we'd suggest using the
myplaces.backup.kml file.
Moving your Saved Placemarks
There are a few ways you can transfer your saved place marks to another computer.
• Google Docs: upload the .kml file to Google Docs and then download it onto
your new computer.
• Email: email the file to yourself and then download it onto your new computer.
• USB drive: transfer the file onto your new computer.
It's also a good idea to occasionally backup the contents of the myplaces.kml file to a
removable device, such as a CD-R or USB drive.
In Google Earth, adding placemarks is a simple way to save a location or multiple

locations. Placemarks can be used to create tours, snapshot a certain view, and much
more.
To learn more about creating a new placemark, watch the video or follow the instructions
below.
Watch the video
Follow the instructions
1. Position the 3D viewer to contain the spot you want to placemark. Consider
zooming into the best viewing level for the desired location. Choose any one of
the following methods:
◦ Select Placemark from the 'Add' Menu.
◦ Click the Placemark icon on the toolbar menu at the the top of the screen
The 'New Placemark' dialog box appears and a 'New Placemark' icon is centered
in the viewer inside a flashing yellow square. Position the placemark. To do this,
position the cursor on the placemark until the cursor changes to a pointing finger
and drag it to the desired location. The cursor changes to a finger pointing icon to
indicate that you can move the placemark.
You can also lock the placemark position or set advanced coordinates for its
position. Set the following properties for the new placemark:
◦ Name for the placemark
◦ Description, including HTML text (see Writing Descriptions)
◦ Style, Color - Choose a color, scale (size) and opacity for the placemark
icon
◦ View - Choose a position for the placemark. For explanation of terms in
this tab, mouse over each field. Click Snapshot current view to apply the
current view (altitude and camera angle) to this placemark.
◦ Altitude - Choose the height of the placemark as it appears over terrain
with a numeric value or the slider. Choose 'Extend to ground' to show the
placemark attached to a line anchored to the ground.
◦ (Icon) - Click the icon for the placemark (top right corner of the dialog box)
to choose an alternate icon.
To learn more about editing properties for your placemark, see Repositioning
Placemark
2. Click OK to apply the information you entered in the placemark dialog box.
Your placemark appears in the 3D viewer and as an entry in the selected folder. Once
you save this placemark, you can always change its position and properties. See Editing
Places and Folder for more information.
Once your placemarks are organized in a folder, it is easy to make tours and movies. To
learn more go to Repositioning Placemark.
When editing placemarks or geometry, you might want to reposition their location on the
earth. The 'Edit Placemark' dialog box offers a number of ways to reposition a
placemark.
Dragging the Placemark
When you edit a placemark, a yellow square appears around the icon, indicating that
you can reposition the icon if you desire. Just click within the square and drag the icon to
the new location. If you need to move the earth to get a better view of the icon relative to
other things, position the mouse outside the square to move the 3D viewer.
You can also lock the placemark to the center of the view.
Locking a Placemark to the Center of the View
With this feature, you reposition the earth under the placemark, rather than repositioning
the placemark over the earth. This feature is useful if you want to move a placemark a
distance that extends beyond the view, and using drag and drop is inconvenient as you
switch from dragging the icon to repositioning the earth.
click the 'View' tab and select the 'Center in View' check box. When you choose this
option, the placemark moves to the center of the 3D viewer and cannot be repositioned
by dragging. Instead, you position the icon by dragging the earth, which then moves
independently of the placemark. This feature allows you to easily position an icon to a
new location beyond your current screen space.
Entering Advanced Coordinates
Tip - You can change how Google Earth displays coodinates in the 3D viewer.
If you know the latitude and longitude for the placemark you are editing, click the View
tab and enter coordinates to reposition the geographic point for the placemark. The
placemark adjusts its position to the new values.
Latitude and Longitude values can be set using the following notations:
• Decimal Degrees (DDD) - In this notation, decimal precision is set in the 'degree'
coordinate. For example, 49.11675953666N.
• Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds (DMS) - In this notation, decimal precision is
set in the 'seconds' coordinate. For example, 49 7'20.06"N.
• Degrees, Minutes with Decimal Seconds (DMM) - In this notation, decimal
precision is set in the 'minutes' coordinate. For example, 49 7.0055722"N. (Here,
20.06 seconds above is divided by 3600 to get the decimal minute value for
20.06 seconds.)
Latitude and Longitude syntax is specified as follows:
• Numeric Values - Simply separate each coordinate notation with a white space
and the entry will be recognized correctly. For example, you can indicate a DMS
notation as: 37 24 23.3. You could indicate a DMM notation as 49 7.0055722.
You can also use the single quote mark (') for minutes and the double quote mark
(") for seconds, as follows: 49 7'20.06"
Alternatively, you can use the Character Map utility in Windows to copy the
degree symbol and paste it into the Latitude/Longitude input boxes. To do this,
select Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools, and then click
Character Map. The degree symbol with Arial font is the second entry past the
registration symbol. Click on the symbol, click the Copy button and paste it into
the input box.
On the Mac, open TextEdit. Press Shift + Option +8. The degree symbol appears.
Copy and paste this into the input box.
• Direction Notation (North/South, East/West)
Use 'N', 'S', 'E', or 'W' to indicate direction. The letter can be entered either upper
or lower case and it can be placed before or after the coordinate value. For
example:
N 37 24 23.3 is the same as 37 24 23.3 N
You can also use the minus sign (-) to indicate a westerly or southerly position.
When you use this kind of notation, do not specify a letter symbol. Additionally,
you do not need to use a plus sign (+) to indicate northerly/easterly directions.
So, for example this is a valid entry:
37 25 19.07, -122 05 08.40
The following is NOT a valid entry:

37 25 19.07 N, -122 05 08.40
• Entering Latitude, Longitude Pairs
When entering latitudinal or longitudinal pairs, the first coordinate is interpreted

as latitude unless you use a direction letter to clarify (E or W). For example, you
can enter longitude first as:
122 05 08.40 W 37 25 19.07 N
However, you cannot use the minus sign to enter longitude first:
-122 05 08.40 37 25 19.07
You can separate pair entries with a space, a comma, or a slash:

37.7 N 122.2 W
37.7 N,122.2 W
37.7 N/122.2 W
Tip - When entering advanced coordinates, the location for your placemark will
adjust as soon as your cursor exits the input box, but the view will remain the
same. Your placemark will seem to disappear from view. To see the placemark in
the 3D viewer, click the 'View' tab and click the Reset to default view button.
Your 3D viewer will now be positioned over the placemark in its new location.
Setting the View
When you create a new placemark, the view for that placemark (i.e., how it is seen in the
3D viewer) is automatically set to the current view on creation. However, you can
change the view for any placemark and save it so that each visit to the placemark shows
the saved view. This involves specifying a particular orientation around a given place
and then setting the orientation.
For example, after first viewing a particular place, you might subsequently find a position
that you like to view it from, such as at a specific tilt angle and from a southerly direction.
Rather than the default north-south, overhead viewpoint of a location, you can specify
your preferred position as the view for every time you visit.
Top-down, north up view Tilted and rotated view

Imagery Date: May 31, 2007. Imagery Date: May 31, 2007.
c. 2010 TerraMetrics c. 2010 TerraMetrics
Setting a view for a folder serves a different purpose than for an individual item.
Applying a New View
First, position the 3D viewer at the viewing orientation you desire and then choose one
of the following options:
• Right-click the item in the list view or the 3D view and select Snapshot View
from the pop-up menu.
The current view inside the Google Earth client 3D viewer is then set as the view
for the selected placemark or folder. You can examine the actual settings for the
view by editing the placemark or folder and clicking on the 'View'.
• Edit the placemark or folder - Right-click the folder or icon and select
Properties from the pop-up menu. Click on the 'View' tab in the Edit... dialog box.
The current values for the view are displayed. When you are ready to set the
view (you can still position the view at this point), click the Snapshot current
view button.
Alternatively, you can manually enter the settings if you have them. Click the OK
button to see the changes in the 3D viewer.
Note - When you change the values for a view, the 3D viewer changes only the
view for the selected item, not the position of the placemark (or folder) itself.
Conceivably, you could even set the view for a placemark so that the placemark
icon is not visible in the 3D viewer.
Returning to the Default, Top-Down View
Right-click the folder or icon and select Edit... from the pop-up menu. Click on the 'View'
tab in the Edit... dialog box. Click the 'Reset view'. The view updates to the default
orientation for the selected item.
There are a number of ways you can remove data from the Places panel:
• Delete - Right-click a placemark, folder, or other item in the 'Places' panel and
select Delete from the pop-up menu. You can also delete items in the 3D viewer
by right-clicking on the icon and selecting Delete from the pop-up menu. This
deletes the item from the 'Places' panel. If the item is located in your 'Temporary
Places' folder, it does not appear the next time you use Google Earth. If you have
previously saved the item, you can always open the saved data at any time.
Otherwise, the item is permanently removed.
• Delete Key - With the item selected in the 'Places' panel, press the Delete key. A
dialog box asks to confirm the deletion. Click OK to remove the item from the
Places panel.
◦ Delete Contents - Right-click a folder and select Delete Contents from
the pop-up menu. Click Yes on the confirmation dialog box to proceed with
deleting the contents. All folder contents are removed, including any
subfolders and contained items.
◦ Cut Contents (CTRL-X) - Right-click an item in the 'Places' panel and
select Cut from the pop-up menu, or right-click a placemark in the 3D
viewer and select Cut there. The item is removed from the listing or view,
but copied to the clipboard, so that you can later paste it to a different
location.
Use File > Save > Save Image to save the current view as an image file to your
computer's hard drive. When you save an image, a Save dialog box appears and you
can locate a folder on your computer to save the image to, just as you would for any
document you might save. The image is saved with all visible placemarks, borders, or
other Layer information visible in the 3D viewer.
You can save images in the following resolutions:
• Screen
• 1000 pixels
Google Earth Pro and EC users can save images in the following resolutions:
• 1400 pixels
• 2400 pixels
• 4800 pixels
Organizing places
You can organize your saved data in the 'Places' panel in a way similar to how you
would organize files and folders on your computer's hard drive. This section covers the
following:
• Creating Folders
• Reordering Placemarks or Folders
• Renaming a Placemark or Folder
• Removing a Placemark or Folder
Creating Folders
You can create folders and move other folders, placemarks, or shapes to them. To
create a folder:
1. Right-click a folder in the Places panel.

2. Select Add > Folder from the pop-up menu. The folder you right-clicked on is
automatically set as the container for the new folder.
Once the 'New Folder' dialog box appears, you can set the following fields:
• Name
• Description - Enter a description for the folder. For example, you might enter text
that gives a general description of all the placemarks in the folder. The first few
words of the description appear below the folder in the 'Places' panel. When you
double-click the folder, the description appears in a balloon in the 3D viewer. In
addition, you can use a number of HTML tags to format your description and
include images, including <b></b>, <br>, <img src="...">, and <a href="...">. See
Writing Descriptions.
• Style/Color - Once you have other icons within the new folder (or its subfolders)
the 'Style/Color' tab is available. You can use this feature to apply label and icon
styles universally across all items within the folder. See Editing Places and
Folders for more information.
• View - See Setting the View for details. Once you set a view for a folder, double-
clicking on the folder repositions the 3D viewer to the position you have chosen.
Setting a view for a folder is useful when you want to create a viewing angle to
encompass all the items contained by the folder. For example, you might have a
collection of placemarks in a specific region of the city, each with an independent
viewing angle. You can place them all in a folder and set a viewing angle for the
folder in order to display all of the placemarks from a consistent viewing angle, if
desired.
Reordering Placemarks or Folders
You can reposition a placemark or folder in three ways:
• Drag it to a new position in a list of items.

• Drag and drop it over a folder.
• Right-click the item and select Cut from the pop-up menu, followed by right-
clicking on the new position or folder and selecting Paste from the pop-up menu.
In this way, you can put placemarks inside newly created folders, or you can move an
entire folder and its contents into another folder to create groups of folders.
Note: If you move a folder so that it is inside the 'Temporary Places' main folder,
you must save that data if you want it to be available the next time you start
Google Earth. If you exit Google Earth without saving the folder, a dialog box
prompts you to save the information to your 'My Places' folder. See Saving
Places Data for details.
Renaming a Placemark or Folder
To quickly rename an item, right-click it and select Rename from the pop-up menu. You
can enter the new name directly in the name field. You can also:
• Choose Rename from the Edit menu if the item is selected in the list
• (Windows and Linux only) Select the item and press F2 on the keyboard
Removing a Placemark or Folder
To delete an item, right-click the entry and select Delete from the pop-up menu, or
select Delete from the 'Edit' menu when the item is selected in the 'Places' panel. A
confirmation dialog box asks if you want to delete the placemark or folder. If you delete a
folder, you also delete all its contents, including other folders and icons. Click Yes to
confirm the deletion.
To hide places data, select or de-select the check box next to an item. To turn off
the display for a single placemark or overlay in the 3D viewer, click the item to remove
the check mark. To turn on a single item, select the check box. For entire folders, you
can turn on all items in the folder by selecting the folder's check box if it is not already
selected. In this case, all items in the folder are turned on. A subsequent click turns off
all items in the folder.
Note - If a square appears in the check box for a folder, this indicates that
some (but not all) of the items within that folder are currently displayed.
Editing and customizing places

Applying description, label, and advanced settings to a folder provides display
characteristics that differ from settings applied to individual placemarks or other geometry
features. These differences are described here. For more information on how to apply these
settings, see the rest of the topics in this section.
• Folder name and description - The name and description that you provide when
you edit a folder applies only to that folder and not to the items it contains. Use these
fields to identify the folder and describe its contents.
• Folder view - As with the name and description, the view applies only to the folder.
Setting a view for a folder is useful when you want to create a viewing angle to
encompass all the items contained by the folder. For example, you might have a
folder containing placemarks of your favorite golf clubs in a specific region, each with
a separate viewing angle. You can place them all in a folder and set a viewing angle
for the folder in order to display all of the placemarks from a consistent viewing
angle, if desired. See Setting the View.
• Shared styles - You can define a single style for a folder and have the style
elements apply to all folder items when you want them to have the same line, label,
and icon appearance. This is accomplished first by enabling the "sharing" state for
the folder, if it is not already available.
By default, when all items in a folder have either the exact same styles (same line,
label, and icon settings) or no styles set, sharing is enabled for the parent folder.
This means that setting universal styles for all folder items is simply a matter of
setting the style for the parent folder.
If the individual items within the folder have different style settings, sharing is turned
off for the parent folder.
You can click the Share Style button to enable style sharing for all items.
Subsequent changes to the settings in this panel over-write any style modifications
you have made to individual items within the folder.
• Shared altitude settings - As with styles, altitude settings can apply to all items in
the folder once style sharing is enabled (see above). This includes subfolders.
Altitude settings apply to all geometry within the folder. However, if you set different
altitude options for individual items within a folder, the altitude option for the folder
indicates a setting of "mixed modes."
Modifying Settings for a Single Item
You can modify all settings for a single item to affect the display of that item only. When you
change the style and altitude settings for an item in a folder, style sharing is disabled for that
folder. However, styles that have been previously applied via the shared styles are
preserved for other items in the folder.
Note - The recommended process of using a combination of shared styles with

individual placemark modifications is to first apply shared settings to the folder to
establish all desired common elements (e.g., icon scale and line color). At that point,
you can modify individual items without affecting the general style settings for the
other items. However, should you later re-enable shared styles, any individual
modifications are overwritten.
Other topics in this section describe the features you can apply to individual place items.
The description field for places and folder can contain a lengthy amount of text, sufficient for
detailed descriptions. When you click a placemark icon in the 3D viewer, the description for that
place appears in the information balloon that pops up. A scroll bar appears when the
description is too long to fit in the entire balloon.
In the 'Places' panel, a small amount, or snippet, of the description appears beneath the folder
or item.
Keep in mind the following points about text in the Description field:
• Valid web URLs are automatically converted to HTML and can be clicked on from the
info balloon to produce the related web page in the web window.
• Many HTML tags are respected, such as font, style, and table tags. If you are familiar
with HTML, you can be quite creative in how your descriptions are formatted! All HTML
tags should be properly closed.
• You can include images in your description using the IMG HTML tag to refer to
either:
◦ Images stored on your computer's hard drive (e.g., <img src="C:\Documents and
Settings\HP\My Documents\Pictures\myDescriptiveImage.jpg">)
◦ Images on the internet (e.g. <img
src="http://www.test.com/images/myDescriptiveImage.jpg">).
When you email that placemark to another person, local images are included.
Note - While theoretically the amount of text that you can enter into a description is
unlimited, an extremely lengthy description can negatively impact the performance of
Google Earth.
When you create or edit a placemark or folder, you can change the label for that item by typing
in your text in the 'Name' field. By selecting the 'Style, Color ' tab in the 'Edit Placemark' dialog
box, you can also change the following features for a label.
• Color - To set the color for a label, click the 'Color' swatch and choose a color using the
standard color selector. You can choose preset colors or define your own in a variety of
ways. When you select this color, the label updates before the 'Edit' dialog box is
closed, so you can view your changes and modify them easily.
• Size - To change the display size for a label, enter a value in the 'Scale' field or click the
Scale button and use the slider to adjust the size of the label to your preference. The
maximum scale value for an icon is 4 pixels.
• Opacity - The opacity setting indicates how transparent the label is relative to the
imagery beneath it. By default, the opacity is 100%, which means that it completely
obscures any imagery beneath it. If you have changed the size and color of your label,
you might want it to be partially transparent so imagery beneath is visible. To do this,
enter a percentage opacity in the 'Opacity' field.
When you create or edit a placemark or folder, you can change the icon for that item by clicking
on the icon button to the right of the 'Name' field and choosing a new icon from the palette.
Note - You cannot set the icon for a folder if that folder contains a mixture of placemark
data such as a combination of placemarks and overlays. To set icons and their values
for folders, you must enable shared styles.
Using Custom Icons
For single placemarks and folders of placemarks, you can select a custom image to use as an
icon rather than one of the default set of icons available to all placemarks. When you set a
custom icon for a single placemark, the new icon appears for that placemark only. You can also
set a custom icon for a folder if style sharing is enabled. In that case, any change to the folder
applies to all of the items in the folder.
Note - As with images on web page graphics, custom icons with smaller file sizes work
best.
To choose a custom icon:
1. Click the icon in the top right corner of the Edit Placemark/Folder dialog box.
2. Choose 'custom' from the icon palette.
3. Indicate a valid path or Web URL in the field beneath the 'Icon File/URL' label or click
Browse to specify the file on your computer or network. If you refer to an image on the
web, be sure you have entered the path to the image itself, not the web page containing
the image.
Setting Line Color and Width
When your placemark data consists of lines, such as with saved directions, you can use the
'Line' properties in the 'Style' tab to modify the display of the line in the 3D viewer.
• Color - To set the color for a line, click the 'Color' swatch and choose a color using the
standard color selector. You can choose preset colors or define your own in a variety of
ways. Your color choice is added to that of the existing line data in the same way as
icon color is modified. In addition, the alpha channel available in the color picker adjusts
the opacity of the line in the same way as the 'Opacity' setting does.
• Width - The default setting for line width is 1 pixel. You can adjust the thickness of the
line from 0 to 4 pixels by clicking on the Width button and using the up and down arrows
to adjust the width within the allowed range. You can enter other values for the line
width by typing in a number in the 'Width' field. Note that DirectX users cannot adjust
line width.
• Opacity - The opacity setting indicates how transparent the line is relative to the
imagery beneath it. By default, the opacity is 100%, which means that it completely
obscures any imagery beneath it. If you have changed the width and color of your line,
you might want it to be partially transparent so imagery beneath is visible. To do this,
enter a percentage opacity in the 'Opacity' field or click the Opacity button and use the
slider to adjust transparency to your preference.
Importing your data
Importing from a GPS device
Capturing a GPS Track
There are several ways to capture a GPS track. We recommend capturing tracks on
GPS devices. High-end GPS devices tend to record tracks more faithfully and have
better battery lives than most mobile phones. However, if you prefer a less technical and
simpler method, there are several applications offerred on both Android and IPhone
devices which will allow you to capture a track using your mobile device.
Capturing a track on a supported GPS device
We recommend capturing a track on a high-end GPS device such as a Garmin or

Magellan unit.
• Make sure your Garmin or Magellan device is set to capture tracks.

• Use the "Most Often" / "Highest Fidelity" / "Most Points" setting for your GPS
device to give the most accurate tracks.
• Most devices allow track export when connected via USB. Export your track and
save it as a .GPX or NMEA file.
Capturing a track on an Android phone
When capturing a track on any Android phone, make sure that your device is fully
charged before tracking to ensure that your phone can complete the trace. Make sure
that GPS is enabled, and do not record a track based on your cell phone tower position.
We suggest that you use the MyTracks application to capture your track.
Capturing a track using My Tracks
1. Download the My Tracks app from the Android Market.

2. When you are ready to begin your track, select Menu -> Record track.
3. At the end of your track select Menu-> Stop recording.
4. When the menu appears, enter a name for your track. Click Done.
5. Click the arrow button in the lower righthand corner of your screen, and select
"Share with friends". Select "A GPX file" (do NOT select KML.)
6. Send the GPX file to yourself and import the file into Google Earth.
Capturing a track on an iPhone
There are several programs which allow you to capture a GPS track on an iPhone. One
example is MotionX-GPS. MotionX GPS will also allow you to set up an email address
where you can send your tracks.
Once you have captured your GPS track, you can import your track into Google Earth.
Learn how to import your track. Once imported, you can customize your track and create
an animated tour. For more information, check out the Viewing GPS tracks article.
If you have a GPS (Global Positioning System) device, you can connect it to your
computer to import your waypoint and track data in Google Earth. This will allow you to
view your GPS data inside of Google Earth.
Click any of these topics for more information:
Supported GPS Devices
Google Earth currently supports most GPS devices from Garmin and Magellan, in
addition to the Wintec WBT - 201.
The GPSBabel web site lists the devices officially supported by the Google Earth GPS
import feature. You can try using other devices not included on this list, but they may or
may not work correctly.
If you're using a device that is not supported, you can try importing GPS data to your
computer from the device as a .gpx or .loc file and then opening it in Google Earth. See
Importing Existing GPS Data Files.
Required Connectors
You will need either a serial cable or USB cable to connect the GPS device to your
computer. Most GPS devices are sold with one of these cables. If your GPS device
didn’t come with a cable, you can visit the manufacturer's website to purchase the
correct one for your model.
About GPS Points
You can choose how your GPS data is imported into Google Earth. When your GPS
data is imported into Google Earth, a dialogue will appear asking if you would like to
import Tracks, Waypoints, Routes, or all of the above.
• Tracks - Tracks (or trackpoints) are points that are automatically recorded by the
GPS device as you travel.
• Waypoints - Waypoints are points entered by the user. Waypoints are typically
marked with a name, such as "home" or "turnaround point."
• Routes - Route points are used by the GPS device to create a route from one
recorded point to another recorded point. Route points can contain multiple sets
of directions and can be imported into Google Earth as paths.
Importing GPS Data
There are two ways to import your GPS data into Google Earth:
• Import an existing GPS data file

• Import data directly from your GPS device
After importing, to save your GPS data, move it into the "My Places" folder before
closing Google Earth.
When you import existing GPS data, select how you’d like to display the data from
the options in this dialog box:
"Create KML Tracks" and "Adjust altitudes to ground height" are selected by
default.
• Create KML Tracks
Select “Create KML Tracks” to view your GPS data as a track. A track is a
line of GPS data that includes a time element. If available in the source data,
tracks can also store additional sensor data such as heart rate, cadence,
temperature, and power. Plus, the tracks option will allow you to customize
your icon.
The tracks option is highly recommended if you are planning to view your
data in Google Earth 5.2 or later, and is the best option to be used with the
elevation profile feature in 5.2. Learn more about GPS tracks.
• Create KML LineStrings
Select “Create KML LineStrings” to view your GPS data as a LineString.

The LineStrings option is best for people who wish to import their data into
Google Maps or other KML viewers. A LineString is a line of GPS data that
doesn't have a time element associated with it. This option lets you see the
individual points that make up your track. The points, however, do hold
time information.
While this option does include elevation and location information, you must
access it from within the balloon associated with each point rather than
from the line.
• Adjust Altitudes to Ground Height
Select “Adjust altitudes to ground height” to adjust all recorded points to

ground level, such as when importing a track taken on foot, car, or bike.
However, if your GPS track was recorded while traveling by air, such as
hang gliding or flying on a plane, make sure this option is not selected so
that your points appear as above-ground points.
Importing Data From Your GPS Device
Importing the data from your GPS device to Google Earth is simple:
1. Make sure the necessary drivers, if any, are installed on your computer. If
you are using a Windows computer and a Garmin USB device that requires
USB drivers, install the USB driver from the CD included with your GPS
device, or download the driver from the the Garmin website.
2. Connect your GPS device to the computer running Google Earth with the
serial cable or USB cable that came with your device. Make sure your GPS
is turned off when connecting.
3. Turn on the GPS device. Once your device is on and activated, it is not
necessary to wait until it connects to satellites.
4. From the 'Tools' menu, select GPS. The “GPS Import” window appears.
5. Under Device, select the correct manufacturer type for your GPS device. If
you are importing a file, select “Import from file.” For more information, see
Importing Existing GPS Data Files.
6. Under Import, select the types of data you want to import. We recommend
using the default option to have all three types selected. This will allow for
all types of GPS data to be transferred.
7. Under Output, select KML Tracks" or “KML LineStrings to choose how you
would like your GPS tracks to be displayed. Learn more about KML Tracks
and KML LineStrings.
8. Check the Adjust altitude to ground height option to adjust all recorded
points to ground level, such as when importing a track taken on foot, car, or
bike. However, if your GPS track was recorded while traveling by air, such
as hang gliding or flying on a plane, make sure this option is not selected
so that your points appear as above-ground points.
9. Click Import. When your GPS data is finished loading into Google Earth, a
confirmation dialog box appears.
TIp: If your GPS data is taking much longer than expected to import, we
recommend you decrease the sampling rate when collecting your GPS
data. Most GPS receivers allow you to set the track sampling rate. By
decreasing the sampling rate you are collecting fewer points over the same
amount of time.
Your data appears in the Places panel with the label GPS Device. If you expand
the GPS Device folder, you can see your GPS data sorted into separate folders
depending upon the type of data, as illustrated in the example below.
You can expand those folders to explore the information further, in addition to
organizing, editing, sharing, and saving the data. If you selected both the “KML
Tracks” and “KML LineString” output options when importing your data, you’ll
find your data in both the Track and LineString formats within your Tracks folder.
Note: If you receive a connection error when importing your data, turn off
the GPS device and turn it on again, then return to Step 4.
Real Time GPS Tracking
If you have connected your portable computer to a GPS device, you can view GPS
information in real time. For example, if you have your GPS device connected to
your laptop while you are traveling, you can capture your location and track your
progress in Google Earth. To do this:
1. Connect your GPS device and portable computer as described in steps 1-4
of the Importing Data From Your GPS Device section.
2. In the GPS dialog box, click the 'Realtime' tab.
3. Select the appropriate options:
◦ Select protocol: If you're not sure what to use, choose “NMEA”.

◦ Track point import limit: The track point import limit option defines
the number of positions that are saved and drawn on the screen. A
smaller number can result in faster data, but a less accurate
depiction of your journey, while a larger number can mean the
opposite.
◦ Polling interval (seconds): The polling interval is how often Google
Earth collects data from the GPS device.
◦ Automatically follow the path: Check this option to turn on the 3D
viewer center and follow the current real-time GPS track.
4. Click Start to begin realtime GPS tracking.
This article shows you how to:
Import Your GPS Track

Customize Your GPS Track
Create a Tour of Your Track
Use the Time Slider to View Your Track
View the Elevation Profile of Your Track
Import Your GPS Track
For basic instructions on how to export data from your GPS device and import it
into Google Earth, or how to import an existing GPS data file read Importing Data
from GPS Devices
Note: The tips below apply only to Google Earth 5.2 and later
Customize Your Track
Right-click the GPS data source in the Places panel and choose "Get Info" on a
Mac or "Properties" on a PC. Personalize the icon for your track. Click the icon
button next to the "Name" field, and pick the icon you want. You can also
customize your icon the same way that you'd customize a placemark. For
example, if you're tracking an air flight, you might want to choose a plane.
Select the "Style, Color" tab to pick the colors you want for the label, line, and
icon of your track.
Tip: If you know KML well, you can customize your icon to be a 3D model.
Learn how in the KML Documentation.
Create a Tour of Your Track
To create a tour of your track, first choose your GPS track in the Places panel.
Then click the "generate tour button": , and a tour of your track plays
automatically.
To set preferences for your tour, go to Google Earth > Preferences on a Mac or
Tools > Options on a PC. Click the "Touring" tab.
Below "When creating a tour from a line," you can adjust Camera Tilt Angle and
Camera Range. The "Restore Default" button will bring you back to reasonable
default settings.
Below "When creating a tour from a track," you can adjust speed and keyframe-
spacing. The "Restore Default" button will bring you back to reasonable default
settings. The default speed (6.0) plays your tour 6 times the actual speed.
Use the Time Slider to View Your Track
For an overview of the time slider, see Basics of the Time Slider. To get started
viewing your track, choose your GPS data in the left panel, and the time slider will
appear.
Note: Only have one track selected at a time in the Places panel. If you have
more than one data set selected, the time slider shows the collective time
range of all the data sets. This can make it hard to find your track in the 3D
viewer when you'd like to look at a specific data set.
Display track as a span of time: Adjust the range marker (see "Features of the
Time Slider") to choose a window of time to display your track. Press the "play"
button. The icon is always visible at the beginning point of your time range. As the
icon moves, a tail appears behind the icon which represents the amount of time
you selected in the window. The end of the tail represents the last point of the
time range. Anything outside your time range isn't visible.
Display track as a point in time: Adjust the range marker (see "Features of the
Time Slider") so there's no window of time. The range marker should be touching
the other piece of the time slider, making the range of time selected equal to 0.
Press the "play" button. Your track plays, showing only the icon moving through
each point. No tail appears behind the icon.
Zoom In or Out: Select the (+) or (-) buttons to zoom in or out and shorten and
lengthen the date range covered by your timelines. This allows you to more easily
see the different imagery that's available within a shorter or longer period of time.
Notice that, as you zoom in or out, the Start and End dates on the timeline change.
Zooming in (+) on the track makes it appear slower, since it is more magnified.
Zooming out on your track (-), makes the track move faster, because it causes the
view to be less magnified.
Customize your view: You can customize the angle at which you see your track
run. While the track is playing, use the navigation controls to adjust the zoom and
tilt of your 3D viewer. This allows you to view your track from various distances
and angles or to follow the icon as it moves along its path.
View the Elevation Profile of Your Track
You can view the elevation profile of your track, which means that you see the
terrain pattern of your track. To do this, choose your track in the places panel.
Right-click, and pick "Show Elevation Profile." A box appears at the bottom of the
3D viewer that shows the Elevation Profile.
Importing Image Overlays
Note - This feature is distinct from adding a photo to Google Earth.
When you create an image overlay, you are specifying three important things:
• What image file to display in the 3D viewer (from your computer, from your
network, or from a website)
• How to fit or position the image boundaries to the earth data beneath
• What the location and view of the imagery overlay is (in the same way you
do when positioning a new placemark)
The topics in this section cover:
• Overlay Requirements
• Overlay Features
• Creating an Overlay
• Opening and Viewing Overlays
• Posting Image Overlays to a Web Server
• Placing WMS Image Overlays
Tip - You can hide an existing image overlay by unchecking it the 'Places'
panel. To permanently delete an image overlay, right-click it in the 'Places'
panel and choose Delete. Learn more about using places and folders.
Overlay images can be taken from your computer, from your network, or from a
web site. The image format must be one of the following:
• BMP
• DDS
• GIF
• JPG
• PGM
• PNG
• PPM
• TGA
• TIFF
Overlays in PNG and GIF formats can be modified so that undesirable regions
(such as image boundaries) are transparent, letting the underlying imagery show
through.
You can use topographical maps, weather satellite image maps, or other
geographical image data as overlays. For ideas and examples of overlays, see the
Google Earth Community bulletin board (bbs.keyhole.com).
The overlay image itself must have a North-Top orientation with simple cylindrical
projection. Simple cylindrical projection (or Plate Carrée) is a simple map
projection where the meridians and parallels are equidistant, straight parallel
lines, with the two sets crossing at right angles. (This format is also known as
Lat/Lon WGS84 projection.) Because a certain amount of modifications to overlay
images is allowed, you might find that the more common UTM maps work well
enough over small areas. However, for a more precise overlay of a large region,
simple cylindrical projection is required.
Note - The overlay feature is memory intensive. Consequently, images

larger than 2000x2000 pixels can reduce the performance of Google Earth
and other applications currently running on your computer. (To determine
the size in pixels of an image, display the image file in a Windows Explorer
window, right-click it, and select Properties from the pop-up menu.) If you
are having trouble importing a large image, you can reduce its size using
image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.
Once you create an overlay, it has many of the same features available to it as a
simple placemark. With overlays, you can:
• Email them to other people - You can email image overlays just as you
would mail other placemark data. However, keep in mind that overlay files
can only be opened by other users of Google Earth. If you want to send the
overlay image as it appears on the earth to someone who doesn't have
Google Earth, email the view instead. For details on emailing overlays, see
Emailing Places Data.
When you email an overlay that references a local image, that image is
automatically included with the overlay. You do not need to include the
local image in your email attachment. This is an upgrade from Google Earth
(Keyhole) version 2.2 and earlier.
• Save them to your computer. See Saving Places Data for details.
• Edit their properties and settings - See Editing Places and Folders for
relevant information.
In addition to common placemark features, image overlays also have the following
features:
Transparency Adjustment - You can adjust the transparency of an overlay from

completely transparent to fully opaque whenever it is selected in the viewer. By
adjusting the transparency of the overlay image, you can see how the overlay
image corresponds to the 3D viewer imagery beneath.
1. Overview slider for selected overlay
Note - You can also adjust the transparency of a selected overlay if your
mouse has a scroll wheel. Click the slider (see above). Scroll down to make
the overlay more opaque. Scroll up to make the overlay more transparent, .
Terrain Integration
When you create an overlay, it completely integrates with the terrain or shape of
the land beneath if the terrain layer is turned on. For example, you might create an
overlay of Yosemite National Park and be able to view the trails in relationship to
the 3D view of the mountains. In this way, the combination of an overlay map and
the 3D viewer imagery gives more information than either one by itself.
Overlay map with terrain off
Overlay map with terrain on
• Updates based on time or view coordinates - If you are viewing time-

sensitive imagery that changes periodically, you can set the imagery to a
refresh rate to make sure you are viewing the latest image. This is useful
for viewing imagery maps from the web where the image is automatically
updated.
In addition, you can set the imagery to update depending upon your view.
For example, you might be viewing imagery from a server that only delivers
imagery that can be seen in your current 3D view. In this case, the imagery
update changes whenever you navigate the 3D viewer to a new position.
• Draw Order - You can determine the hierarchy Google Earth uses when you
use overlapping image overlays. Google Earth displays images with a
higher draw order number in front of images with a lower draw number.
Creating an Image Overlay
This section covers three parts to creating an image overlay:
• Creating an overlay
• Positioning the imagery in the viewer
• Position settings
Creating an Overlay
1. Position the 3D viewer in the location where you want to place the overlay
image file.
Try to position the viewer so that it corresponds in viewing altitude to the

overlay. If the overlay is of a detailed view, zoom into the subject area so
that you don't have to make large adjustments later. By contrast, if the
overlay covers a large area, make sure the entire area is encompassed in
the 3D viewer with some margins for adjusting the imagery.
2. Click Add > Image Overlay or click . The 'New Image Overlay' dialog
box appears.
3. Provide a descriptive name in the Name field.
4. In the Link field, enter the location of the image file you want to use as an
overlay or use the Browse button to locate it on your computer or network.
If the image you are referencing is located on the Internet, you will need to
enter the URL for that image file. This is different from the URL for the web
page itself! If you are using Internet Explorer, you can retrieve the URL for
an image by right-clicking on the image on its web page and selecting Copy
Shortcut from the pop-up menu. At that point, you can insert your cursor in
the 'Image URL' or 'Filename' field and paste the information using CTRL+V
( on the Mac).
The image appears in the 3D viewer, with anchor points that you use to
position it.
5. Specify the descriptive information for the overlay. Descriptions for

overlays are identical to descriptions for all places data. See Writing
Descriptions for details.
6. Click the Refresh tab and set the correct refresh properties for your overlay
imagery. The refresh settings for overlays are identical to those described
for network links. Typically, any imagery that is updated automatically and
located on a server will need refresh properties set. For example, weather
satellite image maps will likely need to be refreshed. For details on the
differences between time-based and view-based refresh, see the
description for network links.
7. Set the default transparency for the imagery using the slider. The
transparency setting for image overlays can be adjusted at any time when
you are viewing an overlay. To make it easy to position the overlay, first
adjust the transparency to achieve a good balance between seeing the
imagery and the earth beneath it.
8. When you select the View tab, you can modify the view settings for the
overlay just as you would any place data. See Setting the View for details.
9. Position the image in the viewer to your preferences and click OK to
complete the creation. If you later want to correct the overlay or reposition
it, simply edit the overlay as you would any other places data. See the
topics in Editing Places and Folders for more information.
Positioning the Imagery in the Viewer
Once you have inserted the overlay image into the viewer, you can use the green
markers to stretch and move the image in a number of ways to get the most exact
positioning required. An overlay image will have corner and edge marks that you
can use to stretch the image, a central cross hair marker to position the image,
and a triangle marker that you can use to rotate the image.
When you select one of these markers, the cursor changes from an open hand to
either a finger-pointing hand or an arrow to indicate that an anchor point is
selected. The following illustration describes the anchor points in detail.
1. Use the center cross-hair marker to slide the entire overlay on the globe
and position it from the center. (Tip: do this first.)
2. Use the triangle marker to rotate the image for better placement.
3. Use any of the corner cross-hair markers to stretch or skew the selected
corner. If you press the Shift key when selecting this marker, the image is
scaled from the center.
4. Use any of the four side anchors to stretch the image in or out of from the
selected side. If you press the Shift key when doing this, the image is
scaled from the center.
Tip - Try positioning the center of the image as a reference point first, and
then use the Shift key in combination with one of the anchors to scale the
image for best positioning.
Position settings
When you select the 'Location' tab, you can use the following settings:
• Manual coordinates for each corner of the image overlay. This is similar in
principle to the manual setting discussed in Repositioning Placemarks,
except that instead of setting coordinates for a single point, you set
coordinates for each corner of the image overlay. You might want to use
this feature if your image overlay comes from a precise map where the
exact coordinates are known.
• Draw Order - If you have more than one overlay for a given region, you can
set the draw order for overlays to determine which image is displayed
relative to other images. Overlays with higher numbers are drawn before
those with lower numbers.
• Fit to Screen - Click this to resize the image to fit the current view.
When you select the View tab, you can modify the view settings for the overlay
just as you would any place data. See Setting the View for details.
In addition to the overlays you create, you can also open and view overlays
emailed to you by other Google Earth users, or you can view overlays posted to a
web server.
Opening Overlays Emailed to You
Opening overlays emailed can be done in two ways:
• Double-click the attachment in the email message. You'll receive a

confirmation dialog box to open the attachment in Google Earth. Click the
appropriate button to open the attachment. If Google Earth is not running, it
will first start up before loading the emailed overlay. Otherwise, it appears
in the 'Temporary Places' folder in the 'Places' panel and the image overlay
displays in the viewer. You can save the overlay as you would any other
place data. See Saving Places Data.
• Save the attachment to your computer. You can save the overlay file to your
computer and open it at your convenience as you would any other type of
places data. See Opening Saved Placemarks for details.
Opening Overlays on a Web Server
You can open overlays posted to a web server simply by clicking on the link that
references the overlay image. When you do this, a dialog box prompts you to
select the correct application to open the attachment. By default, Google Earth
should be selected. Click the appropriate button to confirm the selection. The
image overlay appears in the 3D viewer and the item is displayed in the
'Temporary Places' folder in the 'Places' panel. You can save the overlay as
described above.
Posting Image Overlays to a Web Server
You can share overlay data with other Google Earth users by posting the overlay
file to a web server that other users also have access to. For example, Google
Earth users can post overlays and placemark information to the Google Earth
Community BBS (bbs.keyhole.com). The rest of this section covers the details of
posting overlay data to the Google Earth BBS.
Note - You can post overlays to the Google Earth Community BBS
regardless of whether they reference local or web-based imagery data.
Overlays that you post to the BBS will automatically include images
referenced from a local file system. This is an upgrade from Keyhole 2.2.
1. Right-click your overlay and select Save As... from the pop-up menu.
2. Navigate to a location on your computer's hard drive using the Save dialog
box, name the file, and save it.
3. Use a web browser to connect to bbs.keyhole.com. You must be a
registered user of the Google Earth Community to post overlay files. If you
are a first-time user of the Google Earth software, you must first register
with the Google Earth community before you can log in and post placemark
files. This registration is a separate process from your Google Earth
subscription and is free of charge:
◦ Once on the Google Earth BBS, click the registration link in the Login
area.
◦ Follow the on-screen instructions to register on the site.
◦ You need to provide your email address in order to activate your
account. After registering, an email will be sent to that address
containing your registration information and an activation link.
◦ Click on the link provided in your account activation email. Your
bulletin board account is activated, and you have full access to all of
the features of the Google Earth BBS.
4. Log on to the Google Earth Community web site.
5. Choose a forum (threaded discussion) that is relevant to your image
overlay posting.
6. Click the Post link in the forum subheader.
7. Enter information in the 'Subject' and 'Post' fields, select the check box
next to "I want to preview my post and/or attach a file" and click the
Continue button.
8. Preview your posting and attach an overlay file by clicking on the Browser
button and navigating to the file.
9. Click the Continue button to post your message and file.
Placing WMS Image Overlays
You can place Web Mapping Service (WMS) image overlays in Google Earth.
These are mapping images that are provided through a WMS over the Internet.
They can show you interesting information, such as weather formations and
conditions, topographical maps, alternate high resolution satellite imagery and
more.
To place an WMS image overlay:
1. Follow Steps 1 and 2 of Creating an Image Overlay.

2. In the New dialog box, click the 'Refresh' tab.
3. Click WMS Parameters. The Web Mapping Service Parameters dialog box
appears.
4. Beside WMS Service, choose an appropriate service or click Add to use a
URL (website address) for a WMS. After a brief period of time, Google Earth
populates the Opaque and/or Transparent Layers fields with available
layers from the WMS you choose.
5. Choose the appropriate layer(s) and click Add -> to add the layer(s) to the
'Selected Layers' field. This places this information in the WMS image
overlay you will see in Google Earth. To remove a layer from the Selected
Layers field, select it and click <-Remove.
6. To set the order of selected layers as they appear in the 3D viewer, select
the appropriate layers in the 'Selected Layers' field and click Move Up or
Move Down.
7. When you are finished, click OK and continue from Step 3 of Creating an
Image Overlay.
This feature is available to Google Earth Pro and Google Earth EC

customers only.
Super Image Overlays, or Image Regionation, allows you to import large images
and have them automatically optimized by limiting the number of pixels displayed
at higher altitudes. Your image will be split into tiles and scaled according to your
zoom level. This is similar to the technology used for Google Earth imagery
layers, and it's the reason why you see more detail as you zoom in to the globe.
Take a look at this U.S. Geological Survey image of Mineral Resources in
Portsmouth, Virginia to see the amount of detail that’s preserved through Image
Regionation. The raised box shows what you'll see if you zoom in to that tiny
square on the map.
Note: You'll only be given the Super Image Overlays option if the image you're
importing is larger than your Max Texture Size. If your image is smaller than your
Max Texture Size, the image will not be regionated. Instead, it will be imported as
is.
To View your Max Texture Size, click Help > About Google Earth on a PC (Google
Earth > About Google Earth on a Mac).
If your file is larger than your Max Texture size, you can access this feature by
following these steps on a PC:
1. Click File > Import.

2. Select your file.
3. If you're using a PC, choose your image file type from the Files of type drop
-down.
Note: This will only work for images that have geographic information
attached to them (such as GeoTIFF files).
4. Click Open.
5. You'll see a dialog box that says you're being flown to the location of your
file.
6. You'll then be asked whether you want to Create Super Overlay, Scale, or
Crop the image. Select Create Super Overlay.
7. Browse for and select the folder where you want the super overlay
hierarchy of images to be stored.
8. Click OK
9. Wait for the image to import (you'll see a dialog box telling you that the
image is importing). This process could take several minutes depending on
how large your image is.
Your Image will be saved to your My Places folder to the side of the 3D Viewer.
Importing Vector Data (Pro & EC only)

customers only.
Google Earth Pro and EC support the following kinds of vector data:
• Points
• Lines and paths
• Polygons, including filled polygons
The process of importing vector data files is simple:
1. Import the vector file using one of the following ways:

◦ Drag and drop - Locate the file on your computer or a network server
and drag it over the Google Earth 3D viewer.
◦ Select Open or Import... from the File menu - When you choose this
option, you can specifically select the type of data you're importing
(i.e., TXT, SHP, TAB) or indicate All data import formats from the
select menu.
You can also open a file from a machine on the network as you would open
any file. In addition, if you want to open a file located on a web browser, you
must first download the file and all related files to your computer or local
network and then open it.
2. At the prompt, choose whether or not to apply a style template. If you select
Yes to apply a style template, you can define a new one at that point, or
select an existing one if one has already been defined for that data file. For
more information, see Using Style Templates.
Once imported, the vector elements appear in the 3D viewer and the imported file
is listed under the 'Temporary Places' folder. Labels, icons, color, and description
appear just as they do for other types of places and folders depending upon how
you have defined them using the style template.
Note: If you don't use a style template to modify the appearance of the data
you've ingested, Google Earth looks for a 'Name' field to use as the label
for your data. This label appears in the 3D viewer next to points as well as
in the listing beneath 'Temporary Places'. If your data does not contain a
'Name' field, the first available field that contains text is used as the label
for data.
The rest of this section covers the following topics:
• Using third party vector data

• Using generic text files that contain tab- or comma-separated point data.
Only users of Google Earth EC or Google Earth PRO can import GIS vector
data files. However all Google Earth versions can import generic text files
• Importing imagery
• A brief discussion of projections and datums
Using Third Party Vector Data
Google Earth EC and Google Earth PRO users with the data import module can
import the following vector file formats:
• MapInfo (TAB) - Required files include:

◦ MAP ID
◦ DAT
• ESRI Shape (SHP) - Requires SHX Projection information, which can either
be built into the SHP file or defined in a separate file with a PRJ extension
DBF (for viewing field data)
Most third-party GIS vector data comes as a collection of related files that operate
together to produce all the vector data you see in Google Earth. Be aware that if
expected data does not display in the 3D viewer, it might be due to missing
support files. Those vector file types that require additional support files are
indicated in the list above.
Note - You can also use generic text files to create your own point data for
use in Google Earth.
After you have imported vector data into Google Earth Pro or EC, you can use the
'Table Window' to display the data fields contained within the vector data. To do
this, select Table from the 'Tools' menu. The window appears over the Google
Earth application, listing the data fields of all placemark items in tabular form.
The 'Table' window displays internal data fields for all vector data currently listed
as well as all other entries in the 'Places' panel. You can use the scroll bar to the
right of the window to scroll through numerous entries, and you can collapse the
display of items you don't want to see by removing the check next to the name of
the item you want to minimize.
The 'Table' window offers the following features:
• Sort the data by selected columns by clicking on the column header for the
field you want to sort by. With this feature, you can easily view all elements
in the data list and view these elements in the 3D viewer.
• Single-click an item in the table to highlight that item in the listing under the
'Places' tab.
• Double-click an item in the table to fly to it in the 3D viewer.
• Right-click any table row to access the following pop-up menu, which you
can use to sort or modify the field display.
When you import point and line vector data into Google Earth Pro or EC, you can
determine how you want your data displayed in one of two ways:
• Apply a unified display across all data - Do this either by applying shared
styles across a given folder, or by applying a style template to your vector
data. For shared styles, follow the guidelines in Editing Places and Folders
for details on setting shared altitude, line, label, and icon properties. Style
templates can be applied to your imported data at any point in time.
• Edit individual data elements or folders - Follow the guidelines described in
Editing Places and Folders for information on editing individual
placemarks.

customers only.
Recommended for large data files, Vector Data Regionation automatically

optimizes your files by limiting the number of points displayed at higher altitudes.
This is similar to the technology used for Gigapan Photos (in the Gallery layer) in
Google Earth; as you zoom in, you'll see increasingly more points.
You can access this feature by clicking Tools > Regionate. Select a KML file to
regionate, identify a folder on your computer where the regionated files will be
stored, and click OK to regionate your data.
Watch this video to see how Vector Regionation works:
Note: If you're trying to regionate a file that is not in KML format, you'll first need
to import your file to convert it to KML.
Importing Other Kinds of Data (Pro & EC only)

customers only.
Use the Data Import feature to import your custom geographic data into Google
Earth and view it as you would any of the layers in the Layers panel. When you
use this import feature, you are importing two basic kinds of data:
• Vector Data - Vector data consists of points, lines, paths, and polygons.
Typically, point data is used to describe specific locations, such as the
center of a city. Lines and paths can be used for road or boundary data, for
example, while polygons might be used to describe parcel data or define
other areas such as lakes. You can import vector data into Google Earth
from third-party data providers, such as ESRI. In addition, you can use
generic text files to import point data that you define yourself. Once you
import vector data into the Google Earth application, you can change its
appearance or content in the same way you would when editing placemarks
and folders. In addition, you can use Style Templates to format your data in
visually meaningful ways. You can also display KML data in a time
sequence. To learn more, see Viewing a Timeline.
• Imagery Data - You can import imagery data such as aerial maps or
topographical maps and have the imagery properly projected over the base
imagery in the 3D viewer. For this to work, the imagery file itself must be in
the proper format. Imagery of this type is referred to as 'GIS imagery'.
Note - Import features are available only to Google Earth Pro and EC users.
Once you import vector or imagery data into the Google Earth application, you
can save your modified data just as you would other types of placemarks or
overlays.

customers only.
In addition to importing vector data in SHP, TAB, and other formats, you can
define your own point data and import it into Google Earth. However, only point
data can be created and imported using generic text files.
Generic text files need named columns whose values are separated either by
commas, spaces, or tabs. Do this by creating your data in a spreadsheet
application such as Microsoft Excel and then saving the file as either CSV or TXT
format. Alternatively, you could use a programmatic method to extract data from a
database and produce a final output file in either CSV or TXT format.
If you attempt to import more than 5000 features (i.e., 5000 point data lines) into
Google Earth, this process can take a long time.
You can use geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude) to indicate the position
of the point data in your text file. For importing generic text files, Google Earth
supports coordinates described in


latitude/longitude coordinates supported in Google Earth as well as the type of
syntax supported.
You can use any number of fields in your custom data file to label and describe
the points and display them the Google Earth application. Optional fields can be
defined as the following values:
characters. What actually defines a string with respect to style templates is
that the string itself is either enclosed in quotation marks, or contains white
space so that it cannot be interpreted as a number.

applied to fields.
• Integer
With style templates, you can take advantage of these field types to create useful
visual effects in the 3D viewer such as graphs or color-coding of data based on
the values in the fields.
At minimum, generic text files that you import must contain one or more fields
that specify the location of the point on the earth in order for the data to be
correctly positioned on the globe. This can be specified either with address fields
or with geographic coordinates. However, you cannot use a mix of geographic
coordinates and address fields in a single file.
This feature is only available to Google Earth Pro and Google Earth EC
customers only.
surface. Google Earth can ingest georeferenced and non-georeferenced
information. At this time, Google Earth can only ingest such information for
addresses located within the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France,
Italy, Germany, and Spain. Google Earth cannot place any address that contains a
P.O. box.
define street, city, state, country, and zip code in multiple fields. In this
case, a field with a column label of 'street' would have as its value:
123 Easy Street
In this scenario, additional fields would be defined for city, state, and zip
code.
• Partial address default values - Because some of your points might have
only partial addresses, you can use the data import wizard to define default
values for missing fields, such as state or zip Code.
You can use geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude) to indicate the position
of the point data in your text file. For importing generic text files, Google Earth
supports coordinates described in


latitude/longitude coordinates supported in Google Earth as well as the type of
syntax supported.
You can use any number of fields in your custom data file to label and describe
the points and display them the Google Earth application. Optional fields can be
defined as the following values:
characters. What actually defines a string with respect to style templates is
that the string itself is either enclosed in quotation marks, or contains white
space so that it cannot be interpreted as a number.

applied to fields.
• Integer
With style templates, you can take advantage of these field types to create useful
visual effects in the 3D viewer such as graphs or color-coding of data based on
the values in the fields.

customers only.
You can open GIS imagery files in Google Earth Pro or EC and have the files
correctly projected over the proper map coordinates in the 3D viewer. Google
Earth Pro and EC support the following types of GIS imagery:
• TIFF (.tif), including GeoTiff and compressed TIFF files

• National Imagery Transmission Format (.ntf)
• Erdas Imagine Images (.img)
In addition, you can also import the following images. Because they do not
contain projection information, you must manually edit their coordinates for
correct positioning. Be sure that all imagery files contain the correct projection
information to ensure they will be accurately re-projected in Google Earth Pro.
• Atlantis MFF Raster (.hdr)

• PCIDSK Database File (.pix)
• Portable Pixmap Format (.pnm)
• Device Independent Bitmap (.bmp)
Note: If the image you're importing is larger than your machine's max
texture size, the image will be converted to a Super Image Overlay.
• Opening GIS Imagery

• Saving GIS Imagery
Opening GIS Imagery
Use any one of the methods below to open the imagery file in Google Earth
Pro or EC:
• Select Open from the 'File' menu.

• Drag the desired file from an explorer window and drop it over the
viewer.
Google Earth then attempts to reproject the image to a Simple Cylindrical,

WGS84 coordinate system. From this, it creates an overlay with the image
converted to PNG format. The overlay edit window appears, and you can
set the location of the new overlay in any folder inside the 'Places' panel.
You can also set the properties for the GIS imagery as you would any other
overlay.
The following should be noted when importing GIS imagery data:
• The reprojected image is saved as an overlay. The image is saved

under the Google Earth directory on your hard drive. The name of the
PNG file is based on the source file name and the scaling or
cropping parameters selected when importing the overlay. (See
below for more information on scaling or cropping an image.
• For larger image files, reprojection can take some time.
If you have cropped or scaled an input image, or if you are

reprojecting an image that uses more texture memory, you will see a
progress meter while the reprojection occurs. You can cancel the
operation at any time. Images that contain no projection information
are treated as ordinary overlay files.
In this case, you can position the image manually as you would an
overlay image.
• Images that contain incorrect or unsupported projection information
will not be imported.
In this case, a dialog box indicates that the reprojection cannot be

performed and the image will not be imported.
Note - Currently, files using NAD83 projection are not supported by

Google Earth.
Saving GIS Imagery
Once you have imported imagery data into Google Earth Pro or EC, you can
save content changes made to the imported GIS data as follows:
• Move the imported imagery to remain in your 'My Places' folder - If

you have already placed the imagery overlay within the 'My Places'
folder, any changes you make to it are automatically saved and
viewable each time you start Google Earth.
• Save the imagery overlay as a KMZ file - If you wish to remove the
imported imagery from your 'My Places' folder, you can right-click
the item and select Save As... from the pop-up menu and save the
GIS overlay as a KMZ file to your computer's hard drive or other
accessible file location. After that, you can delete the overlay from
your 'My Places' list and open it later when you need it.
Note: This feature is only available to Google Earth Pro and EC customers.
Learn more here
This tutorial describes how you can import addresses into Google Earth Pro or
EC. You will import addresses from a sample electronic file and view them in
Google Earth Pro or EC. You can also import latitude and longitude data - learn
more.
About Importing Addresses into Google Earth Pro and EC
When you import addresses into Google Earth, each address is converted to a
placemark on the earth that is displayed in the 3D viewer and in the Places panel.
At this time, Google Earth can only ingest such information for addresses located
within the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and
Spain. Google Earth cannot place any address that contains a P.O. box.
surface. Google Earth can ingest georeferenced and non-georeferenced
information. At this time, Google Earth can only ingest such information for
addresses located within the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France,
Italy, Germany, and Spain. Google Earth cannot place any address that contains a
P.O. box.
define street, city, state, country, and zip code in multiple fields. In this
case, a field with a column label of 'street' would have as its value:
123 Easy Street
In this scenario, additional fields would be defined for city, state, and zip
code.
• Partial address default values - Because some of your points might have
only partial addresses, you can use the data import wizard to define default
values for missing fields, such as state or zip code.
Importing Address Data from the Sample File into Google Earth Pro and EC
Try importing data from a sample CSV file. To do this:
1. Download the sample file. Save this file to a location on your hard drive (for
example C:\SampleData\samplefile.csv).
2. In Google Earth, click File > Import.
3. Browse to the location of the the sample file and select it. Click Open. The
Data Import Wizard appears. Note that this wizard only appears when you
import addresses.
4. Choose the following options:
Field Type - Choose Delimited

Delimited - Choose Comma
5. In the preview pane, look at the data. This pane depicts your data and how
it will appear after it is imported. Notice that the city and state data are in
the incorrect columns. This is because some of the addresses contain a
second address (Address 2), while others do not. Google Earth is set to
ignore consecutive commas as delimiters. To fix this, uncheck Treat
consecutive delimiters as one.
6. Click Next. Check This data does not contain latitude/longitude
information...
7. Click Next. Choose Addresses are broken into multiple fields...

8. Under Select Address Fields, review the names given to each field.
9. Click Next. Review the list of fields and the type of data selected for each.
Note that this is an optional step. When you are finished, click Back.
10. Click Finish. Google Earth begins geocoding your data.
11. A dialog box appears indicating that Google Earth could not geocode one
of your addresses. This is the last address in the sample file and it is
intentionally formatted incorrectly. This dialog box allows you to view
exactly which addresses did not import correctly so that you can edit the
data or refine how you import your data in Google Earth.
12. A dialog box appears and asks you if you want to apply a style template.
Click Yes. The Style Template Settings dialog box appears.
13. Click the Color tab. Choose Use single color and click the adjacent button
to pick a color for the icon which depicts the addresses in the 3D viewer.
14. Click the Icon tab. Choose Use same icon for all features and click the
adjacent field to choose the icon (example ) that will display at the
location of each address in the 3D viewer.
15. Click the Height tab. Choose Clamp feature to the ground. This sets the
icons to display at ground level in the 3D viewer.
16. Click OK. The Save Template dialog box appears. Save the template as a
file (.kst) that you can use when you import and format data in the future.
17. You are done! Google Earth displays your address data as icons in the 3D
viewer. You can edit the properties of these placemarks as you would any
other placemark.
Note - The imported data is located in the Temporary Places folder within
the Places Panel. Before you exit Google Earth, you need to drag this data
out of this folder and choose File > Save > Save My Places.
©2010 Google - Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - About Google
Updated on Jan 1 2010 Wed May 4 2011
Using Style Templates (Pro & EC only)
Typically, you will want to customize the numeric values to define buckets in ranges that are
more meaningful for your data. For example, you might modify the ranges displayed in the
example above to round figures typically used to describe square footage for houses. To do
this, simply enter the values you want as the maximum value for each bucket. As you do this,
the number of elements contained by the new definition updates to reflect your changes.
Keep in mind the following about how to adjust numeric field values:
• You cannot adjust the minimum value for the set, nor the maximum value. This means
that the range for the last bucket is actually defined by the maximum value of the
previous bucket. In the example above, then, if you want to change the last bucket to
contain 4 items, you would decrease the maximum value of the green bucket until the
'Count' field showed 4. You must adjust the values for each bucket so as not to collide
with the values defined for other buckets. When organizing your data into buckets, it's
easiest to sketch your bucket values down first before attempting to adjust them in the
'Bucket options' fields, or to start at one end of the data set and work toward the other.
You cannot enter a value in one bucket that is either greater than the maximum value of
the next bucket, or less than the maximum value of the previous bucket.
For example, in the first color bucket example above, suppose you know that you want
your first bucket to show all houses with a square footage of 5000 or less, and you
want the second bucket to show a narrow range of houses from 5000 to 5500 square
feet. If you enter the number 5000 next to the first bucket, you will receive an alert
asking you to pick a number between 2000 and 4822.67. Because the maximum value
of the next higher bucket is 4822.67, you cannot enter a value in the previous bucket
that exceeds it. Thus, to accomplish your goal, you would first need to adjust the
second bucket's maximum value to 5500. At that point, you could adjust the value of
the first bucket to 5000.
• Field data whose numbers exceed a certain number of digits might display in scientific
notation. Depending upon the size of the input box on your screen, some larger
numbers (such as those exceeding 6 digits) will display in scientific notation. For
example, you might see the number '1,628,000' displayed as '1.628e+06'. If you move
the decimal point over 6 places, you will obtain the number in regular notation.
This section covers the basic steps for applying a style template to vector data that contains
fields you want to have displayed in the 3D viewer. You can apply style templates to newly
ingested data or to existing KML data. In addition, you can modify existing templates using
the steps below.
Note - Style templates are quite specific to the data you are working with. While you can use
the same style template for different data that has the same fields, the template settings will
often have to be adjusted to represent the data properly. As your original data set changes
with new data, you might also need to adjust the template to accommodate new information.
1. Choose the data that will have the style template applied to it. If you are importing the
data for the first time, simply click the Yes button when prompted to apply a style
template.
2. If you already have this data in your 'Places' panel, select the parent folder and click
Edit > Apply Style Template. (Use this method when you want to edit a recently-created
style template.)
3. In the 'Style Template Settings ' dialog box, indicate whether you are creating a new
template or using an existing one.
4. If you have an existing style template for your data, it appears in the 'Compatible
templates' list along with any other style template that is compatible to the data you
have selected. If you choose to use an existing style template, select the correct one
from the list. If you simply want to apply the template to your data without changing the
template itself, leave the 'edit selected template' check box clear. To edit the style
template, select the check box.
5. When you create new template or edit an existing one, the 'Style Template Settings'
dialog box appears.
6. Choose a field from your data that you want to use as a Name, or label, for your data.
This name appears in the 3D viewer as well as in the Places panel that lists the data
points.
8. Click on the Color tab and map an element of your data to color styles. See Mapping
Color Styles for details.
9. Click the Icon tab and map and element of your data to one or more icons. See
Mapping Icons to Point Data for details.
10. Click the Height tab to map a height value to a data element. See Mapping Height
Values for details.
11. Click OK when you are finished defining your styles. The values defined appear in the
3D viewer.
The rest of this section discusses in detail how to apply template values to data. Finally, you
can use the instructions in A Style Template Example to walk through the process of defining
a style template on sample point data from a text file.
Mapping Color Styles
You can apply color to selected fields in your imported data. In this case, color is applied to
the feature depending upon the type of data imported:
• Icons are colored with point data

• Lines are colored when applying to lines or paths
• Solid polygons are colored with shape data
Use the color style to color these elements in a meaningful way depending upon both the
data type and the field data within the entire set. You can use three mechanisms to color data:
• Use a single color for all features

• Use random colors
• Set colors based on field values
The rest of this section describes how to use these color application methods.
Using a Single Color
If you want to use one color for all the points or lines from your imported data, select the 'Use
single color' option and click the colored square next to the option. From the color selector,
choose a color or define your own color to apply to the data.
Using Random Colors
To use a variety of colors that are applied randomly by Google Earth, select the 'Use random
colors' option.
Note - The line or point data will be colored based on values supplied by Google Earth.
If you are also supplying an icon for point data, the color is added to the existing color
of the icon.
Setting Colors Based on Field Values
While applying colors to data features helps distinguish features from each other in the 3D
viewer, using colors based on field values provides a way to display data about the feature
set that you couldn't otherwise easily display. For example, you might want to set a short
range of colors based on the square footage of real estate listings. Or, you might want to set
a range of colors for shape files showing average household income.
Use the following steps to define color values by a data field.
1. Select the Set color from field option in the Color tab.
2. Choose the field that you want to apply color data to from the Set color field drop-down
list. Here, you can choose either numeric fields or text fields from your data. See
Choosing Field Types for Style Mapping.
3. Choose the starting and ending color (optional) for your color mapping. By default, the
style template "color buckets" are created from blue and mapped through the
spectrum to red. If you want to change the color range, you can click each color block
and set the starting and ending colors as desired. Google Earth automatically
calculates the color range between the two chosen values.
4. Use the Number of buckets selector to indicate how to group the range of field values.
This option is only available for fields with numeric data. The ranges for each bucket
are automatically computed, but can be adjusted manually. See Customizing the Value
Range for Numeric Data for details. To learn how buckets behave for string and
numeric fields, see Using Buckets for Field Data.
5. Make any further desired adjustments.
◦ Subfolders - You can create subfolders for each color bucket so that the 'Places'
listing displays the data elements grouped by color into their respective folders.
This makes it easier for you to show or hide the display of color groups simply
by selecting or removing the check box next to the folder. Once you select the
sub-folder option, you must provide a name for your sub-folder in order for the
data to be properly grouped in the 'Places' listing. Note that you can only define
a single sub-folder option for either color or icon display.
◦ Color display order - You can click the Reverse order button to reverse the
display order of the color range. So, if you have a range of colors starting with
blue for the first element and ending with red for the last one, reversing the order
will apply red to the first element and blue to the last.
◦ Color adjustments to single buckets - You can modify each color element
individually by clicking on it and adjusting the color for that particular value or
value range. In addition, you can modify the settings for numeric buckets to
adjust the spread of the data to your preference. See Customizing the Value
Range for Numeric Data to learn how to adjust the numeric ranges once you
choose the number of buckets for a range of numbers.
6. Click the OK button to apply and view your changes. - Save the style template. You can
always edit the template to apply icon and height styles or to make additional color
adjustments. Do this by following the instructions in Applying a Style Template.
Mapping Icons to Point Data
As with color, you can apply icons to fields in your data. However, icons can only be mapped
to point data, so if you are importing line or shape data, the Icon style tab will be unavailable.
You can use two mechanisms for mapping icons to points:
• Use the same icon for all features - To do this, simply select the Use same icon for all
features option and choose an icon from the drop-down list.
• Set icon from a field - The actions for doing this are similar to those described in
Mapping Color Styles, and are described in the sections that follow.
Setting Icons Based on Fields
These steps describe the basic process of mapping icons to fields in your data. The following
steps describe the basic process for defining color values by a data field.
1. Select the 'Set icon from field' option in the Icon tab.
2. Choose the field that you want to apply icon labels to from the 'Set icon from field' drop
-down list. Here, you can choose either numeric fields or text fields from your data. See
Choosing Field Types for Style Mapping.
3. Use the 'Number of buckets' selector to indicate how to group the range of field values.
This option is only available for fields with numeric data. The ranges for each bucket
are automatically computed but can be adjusted manually. See Customizing the Value
Range for Numeric Data for details. To learn how buckets behave for string and
numeric fields, see Using Buckets for Field Data.
4. For each bucket defined, select an icon from the list.
5. Make any further desired adjustments:
◦ Subfolders - You can create subfolders for each icon bucket so that the 'Places'
listing displays the data elements grouped by the folder label into their
respective folders. This makes it easier for you to show or hide the display of
icon groups simply by selecting or removing the check box next to the folder.
Once you select the subfolder option, you must provide a name for your sub-
folder in order for the data to be properly grouped in the 'Places' listing.
Note: You can only define a single subfolder option for either color or icon
display.
◦ Icon adjustments to single buckets - You can modify each icon element
individually by clicking on it and adjusting the icon for that particular value or
value range.
◦ In addition, you can modify the settings for numeric buckets to adjust the spread
of the data to your preference. See Customizing the Value Range for Numeric
Data to learn how to adjust the numeric ranges once you choose the number of
buckets for a range of numbers.
6. Click OK to apply and view your changes.
7. Save the style template. You can always edit the template to apply icon and height
styles or to make additional color adjustments. Do this by following the instructions in
Applying a Style Template.
Mapping Height Values
By default, no height values are defined initially in the 'Height' tab. Use the 'Height' tab in the
'Style Template Settings' dialog box to set height values from a selected field. Once height
values are activated, points, lines, or shapes are extruded from ground level to the height
defined for each data element. If you map height to lines or shapes, the values you define
work in combination with the colors defined in the 'Color' tab.
On the other hand, if you map height to point data, those points are extruded using a single
pixel colored line to connect the icon from its elevated position to the ground. You can use
style settings to modify the width and color of those lines if you wish.
The rest of this section covers details for using height values effectively, including:
• Height Values for Text Fields

• Height Values for Numeric Fields
• Using Style Settings to Modify Point Display
Height Values for Text Fields
The height map settings for text fields differ from those for numeric fields. If the field you
choose to map contains text data, the first 8 unique fields are each defined in their own
container, or bucket. For this reason, it makes sense to only map height values to a field that
has 8 or fewer unique values. See Choosing Field Types for Style Mapping for more details.
When you map height values to a text field, the following settings are available:
• Individual height values - The height mapping wizard automatically calculates

reasonable height values for your data given its geographical extents. For example, for
points clustered around a small region, 20 - 2000 meters might be adequate to view all
points as elevated when looking at the entire set in the 3D viewer. On the other hand, if
your data set encompasses an entire state, higher values are calculated so that height
is apparent when looking over the entire region in the 3D viewer.
You can always modify the height values by hand to adjust each point to your
preference. In general, the greater the distinction between each point, the easier it is to
visualize that distinction in the 3D viewer from a distance. Height units - By default,
height units are set to meters, but you can change them to feet if you prefer. When you
change the default value from meters to feet, you might want to adjust the values in
each bucket upward to make the data visible in the 3D viewer.
• Scaling factor - Use the 'Scaling factor' slider to uniformly adjust the numeric values in
all height fields. The slider provides a general factor from .1 times the value to 10 times
the value defined in each field. If you manually adjust the height values, you can also
use the 'Scaling factor' slider to make further adjustments to those numbers.
Height Values for Numeric Fields
When you map height values to a numeric field in your data, you can choose from two types
of mapping methods: continuous or split into buckets.
Using Continuous Mapping
The continuous mapping method uses the minimum and maximum values of your selected
field to determine a minimum and maximum height display for the entire set. It then maps all
data within the set in a way that best corresponds to each individual field. In the example, the
'Square_footage' field is used to map height values, with the minimum value of 2000 and a
maximum value of 6234. Each of the 9 elements in the set is displayed at a slightly different
height value that most accurately displays its relationship to the other points. This particular
method is useful in smaller data sets where individual distinctions between points or shapes
are easily visualized.
With the continuous mapping method, you can use the 'Scaling factor' slider and the 'Height
units' selector as described above in Height Values for Text Fields. Additionally, you can
enter the desired height you want for the beginning and ending ranges of your data. For
example, you might want houses starting at 2000 feet to be displayed in the 3D viewer at a
height of 100 meters, and houses at the ending range to be displayed at a height of 5000
meters.
In the 3D viewer, the visual distinction between individual elements using this method is
affected by both the height range you set and by the number of elements in the data. For
example, a range of 100 - 5000 meters for a set containing only 9 elements creates a visually
distinct height for each point.
If you decrease the range or increase the number of elements in the set, the distinction
between each element diminishes.
Splitting Values into Buckets
Use the 'Split into buckets' mapping method to create up to 8 height groupings for your data.
This method works well for large data sets where continuously mapped heights are not easily
visualized in the 3D viewer. For example, if your data set contains over 1000 housing listings
clustered around a small region, it might be difficult to see the actual difference between
houses in different height categories. By using the 'Split into buckets' option, you can create
more meaningful categories and define visually distinct gaps in their display. For example,
you might have all listings between 2000 - 3000 square feet display at a height of 500 meters,
all listings between 3000 - 4000 square feet display at a height of 1500 meters, and so on.
While this method will not distinguish a house at 3000 square feet from one at 3200 square
feet, it will allow a more immediate visual grasp of the categories you have defined.
As with color and icon styles, the maximum value for each bucket is automatically computed,
but can be adjusted manually. Use the 'Scaling factor' slider and the 'Height units' selector for
this method as described above in Height Values for Text Fields. As you set the number of
buckets and define the maximum value for each bucket, the Style Template wizard displays
the count of items for each bucket. For more details, see Using Buckets for Field Data.
Using Style Settings to Modify Point Display
The color values you set for point data are applied to the icon that you map to points as well
as to the line that is extruded from the point on the earth for the height of the line, as shown
in the real estate listing example above. However, in some cases it might not be easy to
visualize a single-pixel line in the 3D viewer against the earth imagery.
In that case, you can edit the style settings for each point in order to modify the line
thickness.
1. Right-point you want to modify and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
2. In the Edit Placemark dialog box, in the 'Style, Color' tab, modify the point's
appearance as appropriate.
3. Click OK.
Since this process is not practical for large data sets, you might consider applying changes
to entire folders or subfolders. Beware that if you do this, any individually defined styles will
be lost. In this case, use the sub-folder feature of the 'Style Template' wizard to group
similarly styled data into subfolders. Make sure that each folder created has similar color and
icon data. Then, apply the height value to your data and save the style template. Later, use
the steps above to create shared styles for each subfolder you set up. As long as all of the
data within each folder has the same color value and the same icon value, changes to the line
thickness will not impact those settings.
Using Buckets for Field Data
When using color, icon, or height mapping for specific fields in your data set, you typically
define a number of buckets, or containers, to distinguish different ranges of data. The
sections that follow describe how different field types are interpreted by style templates, as
well as how you can adjust the range of values when mapping numeric data.
Choosing Field Types for Style Mapping
You can choose two basic types of fields from your data when mapping color, icon, or height
values:
• Text (string) fields - If the field that you map to color or other style contains non-
numeric data (i.e., text and other characters), the application looks for the first 8 unique
text fields, and maps those fields to the style. If there are fewer than 8 values in your
data, each unique value is paired to a different color, icon, or height. If there are more
than 8 values, the first 8 unique values are mapped to a style, and the rest of the values
are grouped together and mapped to a ninth style. For this reason, it typically is most
useful to apply a style to text fields that contain small unique sets.
For example, in the real estate example described in A Style Template Example, there
is a field in the data called 'School_district'. This field defines the school district ratings
for each listed house. Because there are only three districts: 'AA', 'AAA', and 'AAAA', it
makes sense to use a style to distinguish this type of text field. You might, for instance,
decide to map a height to this field, so that users viewing your data see the highest
points as those belonging to houses in the highest-rated districts, and so on.
• Numeric field - If the field that you choose contains numeric data, the application
automatically apportions the numeric data across the number of buckets that you
select, and provides a count of items in each bucket. If you increase or decrease the
number of buckets, the application automatically re-apportions the number of elements
for each bucket.

Note - If you are using a spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Excel to create
your data, be sure that the cell format you choose for numeric fields has been set to
numeric and not text. If you have numeric fields in your CSV saved from a spreadsheet,
but the 'Style Template' wizard is not recognizing it as numeric, it might be due to
incorrect formatting. To verify whether the actual field is marked as text or numeric,
open the CSV file in a simple text editor and look at the field in question. If it is
enclosed in double quotation marks, then it has been defined as text — even if there
are only numbers within the quotations. You can remove the quotation marks manually
from the file, or open your spreadsheet application and format the cells as numeric and
save the CSV data again.
Often the data you import into Google Earth contains multiple features that are not
automatically converted into a readily visible feature in the 3D viewer. For example, a shape
file defining the population boundaries for a specific region might have a field that supplies
the population number for each boundary defined in the data. Or, a CSV file might contain
real estate listings with a field showing the square footage of each listing.
You can use style templates when importing this data in order to display fields in your data in
meaningful ways.
This is accomplished by 'mapping' or connecting specific fields in your imported data to one
of four template display features:
• 'Name' - By default, if a field for your data contains the phrase 'name' as its label,
Google Earth maps that field to the name displayed in the viewer for your point.
However, you can map any field in your imported data to the Name element.
• 'Color' - The color field applies color to your data. Icons are colored if you import point
data, and shapes or lines are colored if you imported that type of data. For more
information, see Mapping Color Styles.
• 'Icons' - You can use the icon display feature to select an icon from the list for your
imported point data. You can select a single icon for all point data, apply icons
randomly, or select specific icons for specific fields. See Mapping Icons to Point Data.
• 'Height' - The height feature generates a height for the selected column in your data. If
the selected data is numeric, height values can be spread across a range of values. If
the data is text, icons can be supplied to individual fields. See Mapping Height Values.
• Applying a Style Template

• Customizing the Value Ranges for Numeric Data
• A Style Template Example
This feature is only available to Google Earth Pro and Google Earth EC customers
only.
This tutorial is designed to help familiarize you with the basic process of defining, editing,
and using a style template for any data you import into Google Earth Pro. This example uses
a text file saved in CSV (Comma Separated Value) format showing some fictional real estate
listings in the greater Detroit area. This tutorial covers the following:
• Saving the Sample File

• Importing the File
• Creating Style Template Name and Color Settings
• Modifying the Style Template for Icon Settings
• Removing Duplicate Folders
• Adding Height Values
• Creating a Map Legend
Saving the Sample File
1. Use this provided sample real estate listing to follow along with this tutorial. Click the
link and save the file to your computer. If you are using Firefox, right-click the link and
select Save Link As... from the pop-up menu. You can also open and view it with a
spreadsheet application if you wish. Navigate to a location on your computer's hard
drive (such as My Documents or Documents) and save the file.
2. Use this file as your GIS data source as you follow this tutorial. To avoid any
confusion, don't change the name of the file from MetroDetroitRE.csv.
3. If you're curious to see what a comma-separated text file looks like, open the file using
a simple text editor. If you do this, close it without saving any changes.
Importing the File
1. Click File > Import. Navigate to the place on your computer's hard drive where you
saved the file in the steps above. Select the MetroDetroitRE.csv file and click Open.
Click Yes when asked if you want to apply a style template.
You are now ready to create and view the style template.
Creating a Style Template Name and using Color Settings
In this section, you will supply a name label to the real estate listings and color code the
listings based on the 'Square_footage' field. After that, you will save the template and view
your settings.
1. With the Style Template Options dialog box open, be sure the Name tab is active.
2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Set name field selector.
3. Choose the first field in the list: Address.
Notice how the preview table shows the Address column as selected. You can also
click the column heading of any column in the preview table to change your choice.
When you're finished, be sure the Address column is the selected element for the
Name field.
4. Click the Color tab. Notice how the default setting here is to use a single color for the
point data, and that the color is set to white.
5. Select the Set color from field option.
6. From the Select color field selector, choose Square_footage as the field. Again, you
can see how the 'Square_footage' column is selected as the chosen field in the data
preview table.
7. Adjust the color range to your preference. For instance, suppose you want graduations
of a single color red from light to dark. Click the color square next to Palette start color
and choose white in the color picker dialog box. Since the default ending color is
already red, you can leave that square as it is. The color range gradient will update to
reflect your new choice.
8. This tutorial will use the default color palette range of black to white. To change it back,
simply click the white color box and choose black from the color picker.
9. In the Number of buckets selector, set the number to 3.
10. Select the create sub-folders for each bucket check box.
11. In the Bucket options area, set the Maximum value fields from lowest to highest as
follows:
◦ 3000
◦ 4000
Notice the slight adjustment in the count fields.
12. Provide meaningful folder names for each bucket. For example:
◦ 2000 - 3000 Square Feet
13. Click the Icon tab and select an appropriate icon from the drop-down. For example, a
building or information symbol.
14. Click OK at the bottom of the Style Template Settings window.
15. In the Save Template dialog box, click the Save button. Note that the name of the
template file corresponds to the name of your imported file.
16. Leave this name as it is, and click the Save button. The 3D viewer adjusts to
encompass all the points in the data file. Notice that the number of blue icons
corresponds to the count next to the blue bucket and so on for all three buckets (3
blue, 2 green, 3 red).
17. In the Temporary Places folder within the Places panel, expand both parent folders
until you see the three subfolders you created in the steps above.
You can turn off the display of all houses contained within a given folder simply by
removing the check mark next to that folder.
You can also adjust the ordering of the folders by dragging the' 3000 - 4000 Square
Feet' folder to the space between the two remaining folders, so that the order appears
in sequence.
Take some time to explore the data related to each point. You can double-click an item within
a folder to zoom into that view as well as to view the info balloon for the point. Or, click the
point in the 3D viewer to view the info balloon.
Modifying the Style Template for Icon Settings
In this section, you modify the style template you've saved to apply icons that display the
number of bedrooms for each listing.
1. Right-click the top-most folder called MetroDetroitRE.csv and select Apply Style
Template... from the pop-up menu.
2. In the Style Template Options dialog box, select 'Use existing template'.
3. Select the MetroDetroitRE template from the list if it is not already, and check edit
selected template.
4. Click the OK button and in the Style Template Settings dialog box, click the Icon tab.
5. Choose the Set icon from field option and in the Select icon field selector, choose
Bedroom from the list, or click the Bedroom column in the preview table.
6. Set the Number of buckets selector to 4. Notice the count display that shows how many
listings have the corresponding number of bedrooms per value.
7. From the Icon selector next to each bucket, choose the number icon that corresponds
to the maximum value for each field.
8. Click the OK button on the Style Template Settings dialog box.
9. In the Save Template dialog box, click Save, and when prompted to overwrite the
existing template, click Yes. In the 3D viewer, you should see the icons change to
reflect your settings.
Removing Duplicate Folders
Each time you modify a style template, any folders you have created using folder options are
duplicated.
Because you might have hand-modified data within the parent folder (including manually
created sub-folders), the style template wizard avoids over writing your data and simply
creates another set of folders, removing the visibility check from the older ones. You can
choose to retain this historical data (which will increase each time you modify and save a
template), or you can right-click the folders you no longer want and select Delete from the
pop-up menu.
Adding Height Values
In this section of the tutorial, you will modify the style template to create height values based
on the price of the house.
1. Right-click the top-most MetroDetroitRE.csv folder and select Apply Style Template...
from the pop-up menu.
2. Choose the Use existing template option, select the template, and check the edit
selected template check box.
3. Click the Height tab in the Style Template Settings dialog box and choose the Set
height from field option.
4. Click the Price column in the table preview to choose the price field for height.
5. Select Continuous as the mapping method.
6. Leave the Scaling factor slider to 1.0 and the Height units to meters.
7. Next to the minimum value row, replace 20.4005 with 100 as the value.
8. Next to the maximum value row, replace 2040.05 with 5000 as the value.
9. Click the OK button on the Style Template Settings dialog box and save the template,
replacing the previous version.
10. If desired, remove the duplicate folders from the parent folder.
11. Tilt the view in the 3D viewer to see the effects of your settings.
Creating a Map Legend
In this final section of the tutorial, you can view the code behind a sample KMZ file designed
to create a legend for the 3D viewer so that users can readily view the meaning of the settings
you've defined in the style template. If you click the link for this KMZ file, you can open it in
your Google Earth browser to view the legend for the data you've created here. You can also
save the file to your computer and open it using a text editor to see the code that is described
in this section.
The diagram that follows shows the code used to create the KMZ file. Using the KMZ file you
opened as a model, you can create your own screen overlay for your own data as follows
(these tips assume you understand how to use basic web-oriented tools such as FTP, image
editors, and HTML editors):
• Replace the referenced graphic with a graphic that you create using a graphics tool
application such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Paint.
• Save the graphic you create in a compatible format such as PNG, GIF, or JPEG.
• If you want the graphic to be viewable on the web or a network, be sure to place the
graphic in a location others can access it, and use the correct URL to reference it (i.e.,
\\networkpath\folder\folder\imageFile.png for network files or
http://www.test.com/images/myScreenOverlay.png for web-based files).
• Name the file with a meaningful name and an extension of .kmz.
1. Enter the name of your screen legend between the <name></name> tags. This name
appears in the Places panel. You can drag this into the parent folder of your style
template.
2. Enter the correct URL of the image that you use to create the legend. Here, the sample
path is the formate you use to reference an image on your local computer. For images
on a web server, use the URL to the image itself (not the web page containing the
image, and be sure the image has been uploaded to the location referenced by the
URL.
Using KML Data

KML, or 'Keyhole Markup Language', is an XML grammar and file format for modeling and
storing geographic features such as points, lines, images, polygons, and models for display
in Google Earth, Google Maps and other applications. You can use KML to share places and
information with other users of these applications. You can find example KML files on the
KML Gallery and Google Earth Community site that describe interesting features and places.
A KML file is processed by Google Earth in a similar way that HTML and XML files are
processed by web browsers. Like HTML, KML has a tag-based structure with names and
attributes used for specific display purposes. Thus, Google Earth acts as browsers of KML
files. Learn more.
Google Maps can only display certain features of KML. For more information, see this Google
Maps Help topic.
Note - A KMZ file is a compressed version of a KML file. Google Earth can open KML
and KMZ files if these files have the proper file name extension (.kml or .kmz).
You can learn more about using KML by reading the specification. At this time, this document
is in English only:
http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/
Also, you can try a hands-on approach to learning KML by following the KML tutorial. At this
time, this document is in English only:
http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/kml_tut.html
Note - You can display KML data in a time sequence. To learn more, see Viewing a
Timeline.
You can set how Google Earth reacts when it encounters erroneous KML. To do this:
1. Click Tools > Options > 3D View. (On the Mac, click Google Earth > Preferences > 3D
View). The Options dialog box appears.
2. Click the 'General' tab.
3. Under 'KML Error Handling', choose one of the following:
• 'Silently accept all unrecognized data' - Choose this to load KML regardless of any
errors
• 'Show prompts for all errors' - Choose this to show a message upon each instance of
an error
• 'Abort file load on any error' - Choose this to cancel loading of a KML file when Google
Earth detects an error in the KML file
4. Click OK.
To export KMLs, select your data or polygon in the Places panel, left click and select Save Place
As.... You will then be given the option to select a place on your computer where the file should
be saved. You can also choose between saving as KML or KMZ. Note that KMZ is the zipped
version of a KML. If your data contains multiple KMLs, you'll want to choose KMZ as your export
format.
About Datums and Projections
A map projection is a mathematical expression that is used to represent the round, 3D

surface of the earth on a flat, 2D map.
1. 3D Earth
2. Mercator Projection
This process always results in distortion to one or more map properties, such as area, scale,
shape, or direction. Because of this, hundreds of projections have been developed in order to
accurately represent a particular map element or to best suit a particular type of map.
Data sources for maps come in various projections depending upon which characteristic the
cartographer chooses to represent more accurately (at the expense of other characteristics).
In the example above, the Mercator projection preserves the right angles of the latitude and
longitudinal lines at the expense of area, which is distorted at the poles, showing the land
masses there to be larger than they actually are.
The following are some common map projections:
Projection Description Example

Typically
used for
small
regions or
countries
extending
in an east-
to-west
direction,
but not
continents.
Preserves
angles
between
meridians
and
parallels.
Albers Equal Area
Attempts to
Conic
minimize
distortion
for both
shape and
linear
scale, but
neither is
truly
correct.
The
example
here shows
how this
projection
looks over
the entire
earth.
A
cylindrical
projection
like the
Mercator
projections,
Oblique Mercator
but where
(Hotine)
the cylinder
is shifted to
align with a
region that
is oblique
and follows
neither a
north-south
nor an east
-west axis.
The region
to be
mapped
typically is
a small
portion
along the
length of
the
meridian
and close
to it
laterally.
For
example,
this
projection
was
developed
originally
for
mapping
the
Malaysian
peninsula.
Used by
the
National
Geographic
Society for
mapping
most
continents.
This
projection
is a three-
point
Chamberlin Trimetric equidistant
one,
intended to
preserve
the
distance
between
three
reference
points
relative to
any other
point.
A
projection
ideal for
middle
latitudes
and/or
where the
territory to
be mapped
has an east
-west
orientation.
Lambert Conformal This

Conic projection
is often
found in
USGS
maps
created
after 1957.
Scale is
most
accurate at
the
expense of
area.
When building whole-earth databases, a single global projection is the most convenient to
use. Google Earth uses Simple Cylindrical projection for its imagery base. This is a simple
map projection where the meridians and parallels are equidistant, straight lines, with the two
sets crossing at right angles. This projection is also known as Lat/Lon WGS84.
1. Simple Cylindrical (Plate Carree) Projection

2. Google Earth Image Base
While a projection is used in mapping to define the earth on a flat surface, a datum is used to
describe the actual shape of the earth in mathematical terms. This is because the earth's
surface is not perfectly round, but ellipsoid in shape. A datum also defines the association of
latitude and longitude coordinates to points on the surface of the earth, and defines the basis
for elevation measurements.
As with projections, there is more than one mathematical interpretation of the earth's shape.
Google Earth uses WGS84 datum.
1. North Pole
2. Equator
3. South Pole
4. Semi-minor axis or polar
radius
5. Semi-major axis or equatorial
radius
Semi-major axis Semi-minor axis

NAD83 6,378,137.0 6,356,752.3141
WGS84 6,378,137.0 6,356,752.3142
Clark 1866 6,378,206.4 6,356,583.8
Airy 1830 6,377,563.4 6,356,256.9
Making tours and movies
Tours
Note: This updated touring feature is available only in Google Earth 5 and later
You can create and play tours of places and content. Tours are a guided
experience where you fly from one location to another, view terrain and content
and look around as you wish. You can create tours that record your exact
navigation in the 3D window and even add audio. You can then share these tours
with other Google Earth users
To learn more about tours and how to record tours, watch the video (English only)
or read the sections below.
Watch Video
Read Instructions
Playing Tours
To play a tour, double click the tour in the Places panel. To create and play a new
tour of items in My Places, select the appropriate folder in the Places panel and
click the Play Tour button . To create and play a new tour of a line (path),
select the appropriate line in the Places panel and click the Play Tour button
.
The tour begins playing in the 3D viewer and the tour controls appear in the
bottom left corner of the 3D viewer. To pause or resume the tour, click the
Pause/Play button. To fast forward or go back on the tour, click the arrow buttons
(press these repeatedly to accelerate back or forward). To replay the again and
again tour, click the Repeat button. Use the tour slider to move to any part of the
tour.
These controls disappear if the tour is inactive for a period of time, but you can
make them reappear by moving the cursor over the bottom left corner of the 3D
window.
1. Go back, play/pause and fast forward buttons

2. Tour slider
3. Current time in tour
4. Repeat button
5. Save tour button
6. Close tour button
As a tour plays, you can look around by dragging the view. Note that this is
diferent than navigating, as you can only look around from the view points of the
tour. When you pause a tour, you can navigate anywhere. When you click the play
button again, the tour resumes where it left off. Once you create a new tour, be
sure to click the Save tour button.
Recording Tours
To record a tour, click the Record a Tour button in the toolbar or click View >
Tour. The record tour controls appear in the bottom left corner of the 3D window.
To begin and end recording, click the Record/Stop button. To add audio to your
tour, click the Audio button. When you are finished recording your tour, it appears
in the Places panel. You can then play it or share it with others.
1. Record/Stop button
2. Audio button
3. Current time in tour
4. Cancel tour recording button
When you finish recording, click the Record/Stop button. The tour then plays. To
save the tour, click the Save button in the playback controls that re-appear. Your
tour appears in the Places panel.
Tours are KML-based. If you are familiar with KML, you can manually edit the code
of your tour. Learn more about KML (English only).
Tip - You can record while another tour is playing to create a new tour. This
allows you to create interesting perspectives and effects in the new tour,
such as using the mouse to change the viewing angle.
Setting Tour Options
You can control touring behavior, as described below. To access these settings,
click Tools > Options. (on the Mac, click Google Earth > Preferences).
When you are creating a tour from a folder in the places panel, use these settings:
• Time between features - Use this setting to control how fast the viewer flies
to each stop a the tour you create from a folder. Keep in mind that setting
the tour to a high speed requires that your cache contain all imagery, or
else the earth, road, and placemark imagery will not be streamed quickly
enough to keep up with the tour.
• Wait at features - Use this to set the desired pause time for each stop in the
tour.
◦ Fly along lines - Check this to make your tour follow a path (if
available).
◦ Show balloons when waiting at features - Check this to display
balloons at each placemark when the tour pauses.
When you are creating a tour that follows a line (path), use these settings:
• Camera tilt angle - Use this to set the angle of the view displayed when
following a line
• Camera range - Use this to determine how much of the earth (example
10,000 meters) is displayed in the tour
• Speed - Use this to set the speed of the tour
When you are recording a tour, use the slider to choose a balance between the file
size and the quality (fidelity) of your tour.
When using touring features in Google Earth, you can use the following
keystrokes to control touring behavior.
Mac
Windows/Linux
Command Keystroke Result
Keystroke(s)
(s)
Plays the tour or restarts tour after

pausing. The 3D viewer must be in
Play, PauseSpacebar Spacebar focus in order for this key to work.
(Click in the 3D viewer to set focus if
you are unsure.)
Press this multiple times to increase
Rewind Comma Comma
rewind speed.
Slows playback in whatever direction
ALT + you're currently playing. Press this
Slow ALT + comma
comma multiple times to continue to decrease
the rate of speed.
Speeds playback in whatever direction
ALT + you're currently playing. Press this
Fast ALT + period
period multiple times to continue to increase
the rate of speed.
Re-begin
< < Returns to beginning of tour.
tour
Go to end
> > Goes to end of tour.
of tour
Movies

customers only.
You can use the Movie Maker feature of Google Earth to record 3D viewer imagery
and save the recording as a movie file. You can either set the recorder to record
your interactions with the 3D viewer in real-time, or you can set up a tour and
record the entire tour without interruption.
Once you finish recording and have saved your file, you can make the file
available on a web site, use it in a presentation, or send it via email. For instance,
you might want to create a movie of your property to present to clients or at trade
shows where visitors can see satellite views of your property without having to
use Google Earth.
The Movie Maker feature supports different movie file formats:
• Windows Media Video (WMV) - (Windows and Linux only) This output file
format is compressed and optimized for presentations. These WMV files
can be further configured for the best type of delivery, such as via a T1 web
connection or over a 56K modem connection.
• Audio Video Interleave (AVI) - (Windows and Linux only) Movies created in
AVI format are uncompressed and as a result, generate extremely large
files, making it almost impossible for a standard movie player to play back
the recording. This is useful only if you want to edit the movie clips using a
movie editing software.
• Image Stream (JPG) - Movies can be captured as images in variable or fixed
length. This format is useful if you want to control the speed artificially and
edit each screenshot (frame by frame).
• QuickTime - (Mac only) Movies can be captured in Apple QuickTime .mov
format.

customers only.
Tip - After reading through these steps, follow a tutorial on this subject.
Follow these steps to record your movie:
1. Decide if you want to record a movie in real-time (based on your mouse and
keyboard movements) or record a movie based on an existing tour.
2. If you decide you want to record a tour first, follow these steps to draw a
path and save it before recording your movie. Save your 'Places' by going
to File > Save > Save My Places and then play through the entire tour at
least once before proceeding.
3. From the Tools menu, select Movie Maker. The Movie Maker dialog box
appears.
4. From the 'Supported Compression Formats' selector, choose the desired
compression format for your movie. If you want to have a movie format
other than WMV (Windows Media Video) or .mov (QuickTime), check the
'Advanced' checkbox and choose the format. If you choose another movie
format, only standard AVI compression is available. Note that AVI formats
are not compressed and therefore will result in large files.
5. Select 'High Quality' or 'Standard Quality' as the movie quality. See Movie
Quality Levels for details.
6. Choose the Frames Per Second (FPS) you desire for your movie. The
highest FPS setting, '60', offers the smoothest movie viewing experience,
but at the cost of a large file size. For instance, if you want to record a 800 x
600 movie at 60 FPS, you will not achieve the best results. In this case,
choose a lower setting in order to produce a smaller file. The lower the FPS
setting, the more jerky the movie will be. You'll want to find the best
compromise between frame transition and file size. Typically, a setting of 30
works fairly well for movies that you want to provide over the Internet.
7. Choose the resolution for your movie. You'll want to choose a resolution
that is appropriate for your final movie display. For example, you might
have a computer screen projector that only supports a 800 x 600 format.
You can specify the following resolutions, which indicate the width and
height of the movie in pixels:
◦ 320 x 240
◦ 640 x 480
◦ 800 x 600
◦ 720 x 480 (NTSC) - This setting works well with large screen displays.
◦ 720 x 576 (PAL)
◦ 1280x720 (HD)
◦ 1920x1080 (HD)
Note - Recording time in high quality movies occurs very
slowly, since each frame is fully processed before the next
one is viewed.
8. Specify a name for your movie. Click on the Browse button and navigate to
a location on your computer where you want to save the movie file when
you are finished recording. Type in a name for the file in the file dialog box
and click the OK button. Alternatively, you can select an existing movie file
in the same format as the one you are about to create, and that file will be
overwritten with the contents of your new recording.
Note - If you are recording your movie as an image stream, it's best
to choose a new filename or folder location rather than overwriting
an existing image stream selection.
7. Click the Record Tour button. The button is available only after you
enter a valid filename for your movie. When the movie begins
recording, the Movie Maker dialog box appears below so you can
visualize the recording of the movie.
8. Either double-click your tour in your Places panel to play it, or use
your keyboard and mouse to navigate the globe. All of your
movements will be recorded.
When You Are Finished
When you are finished the steps of recording movies, to stop recording,
click the Stop Recording button in the Movie Maker dialog box. Once you
finish recording your movie, you can open the movie file in a media player
that supports the movie format you selected and play back the movie to
view the results. If you are satisfied with the results, you can post the file to
a local server or use it in a presentation.
only.
This section covers a number of tips to help you create quality movies. We
recommend you familiarize yourself with these tips before beginning your recording
in order to produce the best possible movie for your needs.
Note: The time slider is not available when you record movies.
Update Your Movie Player
Having the latest version of Windows Media Player or Apple QuickTime installed is
absolutely essential to making good quality movies, especially if you are having
issues with the graphics quality of your movie. We highly recommend that you
download Windows Media Player 9 or above:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/9series/default.aspx
Or for the Mac:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/mac/default.aspx
You can find the latest version of Apple QuickTime here:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/
Update Your Graphics Card Driver
Although graphics card drivers have no impact on the actual recording of your
movie, a faulty graphics card driver can produce anomalies in your 3D viewer that
then transfer into the movie itself. Therefore, it's always good practice to update your
driver to avoid any possible rendering issues. We recommend that you use a
graphics card with at least 64 MB of video RAM or above.
Increase Your Memory Cache
By increasing your memory cache size, your movie recording experience will go
faster (although it will have no impact on the final quality of your movie). To increase
your memory cache, see Memory and Disk Cache Preferences.
Increase the Detail Area of the 3D Viewer
Increasing the area of detail for your 3D viewer helps to capture all the pixels in more
detail. As a result, the resolution of your movie is improved. See Viewing Preferences
for instructions.
Note - Set 'Detail Area' to 'Large' if you have 64 MB of graphics card memory
or more. If you have less than 64 MB of graphics card memory, set 'Detail Area'
to 'Medium'.
Adjust the Touring Speed
When recording, it is best to use a relatively slow tour speed. However, feel free to
experiment with different speeds and then play the movie back to evaluate whether
the speed is appropriate. See Using Tours for details.
Note - The tour speed you choose will be consistent throughout the movie. If
you want to set different tour speeds for different Placemarks in the same
movie, you will need to create separate movie files for each tour and then edit
them in a movie making software.
Adjust the Elevation Exaggeration
If you want to enhance the appearance of terrain in your movie, you can adjust the
'Elevation Exaggeration' as described in Viewing Preferences.
Showing or Hiding Items in the 3D Viewer
To hide or show the compass, status bar, scale legend or grid, simply uncheck or
check these items in the View menu. Likewise, in this same menu, you can check or
uncheck Atmosphere to hide the atmosphere around the globe when viewed at full
horizon or from space. See also:
• Using the Overview Map

• 3D Viewer Options
• Viewing a Timeline
Preview Your Tour Setup Before Recording
It's a good idea to set up and review the tour points you want to visit in your movie.
This involves two simple actions:
• In the 'Places' panel, select either an entire folder to view all the placemarks
within it, or select individual items in the folder to view only selected ones. See
Using Tours for details.
• Click the Play button that appears below the 'Places' panel to play the tour.
This tour is the same tour that will be followed if you use the 'High Quality
Movie' option, so you can have a sense of what your movie will look like by
playing the tour. See Using Tours for details.
After previewing your movie, be sure to make any adjustments necessary before
recording. For example, if you want to change the view of a particular placemark on
the tour, you can always right-click the placemark, then select 'Snapshot View' in the
menu. This will overwrite your existing placemark view. See Editing Places and
Folders for more details.
Set Up Your System for Maximum Efficiency
Making movies is a memory-intensive and graphics-intensive process. It's best not to

have multiple large applications running on your computer during recording. Disable
both screen savers and pop-up blockers.
Note: This feature is only available to Google Earth Pro and EC customers.
The Movie Maker feature also supports two types of movie quality levels:
• Standard quality movie (real-time) - Use this option when you want to adjust
the visibility of icons and overlays while the movie is recording. For example,
use this option to display an overlay of a site plan or additional layers of
information as you record. Keep in mind that with this option, the frame rate is
limited to the performance of your graphics card, which is generally slowed by
making movies.
• High-quality movie (tour-mode only) - In general, high quality recordings work
best when you want to display the movie on a large screen. Use this option to
achieve the best possible movie recording. With this option, each frame is
completely downloaded to the Google Earth client before it is recorded,
maximizing image quality. For this reason, recording time is comparatively
slow. Unlike the standard quality movie, you do not need to monitor the actual
recording of the movie.
Note - Keep in mind that high quality movies can only play back tour points.
You cannot manually interact with the 3D viewer when using the high quality
option. This means that you'll need to create a tour and save it in order for the
High Quality option to become available. Learn more about creating and
saving tours.
Sharing places
Submitting to the Google Earth Community

After you have created a placemark, shape or KML file, right click the content and
choose Share / Post. The Google Earth Post Wizard will appear on your screen
directly in Google Earth. Select the menu option that best describes what type of
content you are submitting.
Keep in mind, you must be a member of the Google Earth Community in order to
submit your work. You can register here or visit the Google Earth Community to
learn more.
Hosting KML Content
Hosting KML Content
To host a KML, you upload a KML file onto a public site with a URL. Hosting a
KML allows you to do the following:
• Add KML as a network link in Google Earth

• Use the Google Earth gadget to embed KML on your website
You can host your KML through Google Sites or Google Docs with your Google
account. If you don't have a Google account, you can sign up here.
This article teaches you how to host a KML using:
Google Sites
How to host KML on Google Sites
Get started hosting your KML by going to the Google Sites Homepage. Sign in
with your Google Account.
Once inside Google Sites, you can choose to host your KML on an existing site or
a new site. Select an existing site by clicking on it, or create a new site by clicking
the button "Create new site."
Once you're inside a site, follow these steps to host your KML:
• Create a page within your site that can host files. To do this, select
from the top right-hand corner of your screen
• From the template screen that appears, select "File Cabinet." Enter a name
for your new page and choose where you want it to be placed. Then click
"Create Page."
• You're now within the File Cabinet and you're ready to add files. Select
"Add File," click "Browse," then find your file on your hard drive. Once
you've selected your file, click "Upload." Your file is now successfully
hosted on the File Cabinet within your site.
How to get the URL of a KML you've hosted on Google Sites
In Google Sites, go to your File Cabinet page and find your KML file. In Firefox,
right-click on the "Download" hyperlink for that file and select "Copy Link
Location." This will copy the URL of your hosted KML to your clipboard.
Google Docs
How to host KML on Google Docs
To get started, open Google Docs and sign in with your Google Account
Once you're inside Google Docs, hosting a KML takes just 5 easy steps:
1. Click located in the upper left-hand corner of the screen

2. On the "Upload Files" screen that appears, click the "Select files to upload"
link
3. Find your KML file on your hard drive and press "Select"
4. If you'd like, choose a Destination Folder from the drop-down menu on the
bottom of the upload screen. Your KML will be stored in the Destination
Folder once it's uploaded to Google Docs.
5. Click "start upload" to upload your file
Once the upload is complete, click "back to Google Docs" to return to the Docs
List page. The KML you just added should appear at the top of your Docs list.
How to get the URL of a KML you've hosted on Google Docs
Find your KML in your Docs list. If you just uploaded the KML, it should
automatically appear at the top of your docs list. If you have trouble finding your
KML, use the "Items by Type" drop-down in the left column of the docs list and
select "Files." All your KMLs should be stored here.
Click your KML file to open it. Once inside your KML file, click the "Share" link
and select "Get the Link to Share." Select the box that says "Allow anyone with
the link to view (no sign-in required)" which will ensure that your KML is made
public. Click "Save and Close."
When you return to the KML page, right-click on the download link, and in Firefox,
select "Copy link location." This will copy the direct download for your KML to
your clipboard.
Troubleshooting Email Issues
Note - On the Mac, you can only email through the Mail, Eudora and
Entourage applications.
If your email application does not respond to the 'Email View' command, you may
need to set the default email program. To do this in Windows, open the 'Control
Panel' from the Start menu and select 'Internet Options'. Click the 'Programs' tab,
select the default email program that you use from the 'E-mail' drop-down list, and
click Apply. You should now be able to send a view with your email application.
To do this on a Mac, open Mail. Click Mail > Preferences. Pick the email
application you'd prefer as your default email handler.

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Downloading and installing

System Requirements and Recommendations for Google Earth

• Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7

• Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7

Mac System Configuration

• Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5.0 or later

• Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later

Linux System Configuration

• Kernel: 2.4 or later

• XFree86-4.0 or x.org R6.7 or later

• Kernel 2.6 or later

• Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista

• Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later

• CPU: 500Mhz, Pentium 3

Installing and uninstalling Google Earth

For instructions on installing or uninstalling Google Earth, please select the

Install Google Earth

Uninstall Google Earth

1. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.

Please review the instructions on how to resolve each error.

• Verify that your operating system is supported.

Error code containing -5009, -5003, -6002, or -6009 during install/uninstall.

• Update to the latest version of InstallShield found at

MSI or .dll error

Unable to launch Google Earth or the application crashes

• Follow the instructions at http://earth.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?

This feature is useful when:

If you decide to deactivate:

Note - This section is relevant to Google Earth EC users.

1. Click Tools > Options. Click the 'General' tab.

To change your language on a Mac:

1. Exit Google Earth.

To change your language on Linux:

1. Exit Google Earth

◦ Locate the Terminal. In Ubuntu or Fedora it is in Applications >

Google Earth Version 5.0 supports the following languages:

Overview of Google Earth

Click the following toolbar buttons to...

Add a polygon Measure a distance or area size

Add a path (line or lines) Email a view or image.

Record a tour Show the current view in Google Maps

Display historical imagery

• Drag the view in any direction

Move the view

If you want to drift continuously in any direction, hold the

There are a number of ways to zoom in with the mouse.

• You can double-click anywhere in the 3D viewer to

• If you want to zoom continuously in, hold the button

• On some Macintosh laptops, you can drag two fingers

There are a number of ways to zoom out with the mouse.

• Using the RIGHT mouse button, double-click anywhere

If your mouse has either a middle button or a depressible scroll

To look around from a single vantage point, as if you were

If your mouse has either a middle button or a depressible scroll

Navigation > Mouse Wheel Settings). Move the slider to set

(Windows and Linux) Tools > Options > Navigation >

Using the navigation controls

1. Click the north-up button to reset the view so that

You can also use the keyboard to control navigation. See 3D

Tilting and viewing hilly terrain

Top down view Tilted view

Navigating the ocean